It amuses me when people say that humans are the only animals with the capacities of intelligence, love and free will.
My former Norfolk Terrier loved to bound out the back door when he was a puppy. I installed a doggie gate between our sunroom and the back door until I could fully train him not do do this. When I thought he was trained to stop at the gate (when it was open), I quit closing the gate. One day I went up to the mailbox and as I was walking back down the driveway, I saw him standing at the full-length window next to the back door watching me. I planned to correct him when I got inside.
However, when I turned the door knob, I heard his little puppy paws scrambling as fast as they would go across the sunroom floor. When I got the door ajar so I could see him, he was standing at the open gate facing me, tail wagging as fast as it would go. "Look what a good dog I am," was written all over his face and body language.
Looked a lot like intelligence and free will to me. And since he didn't realize I had caught him in the act, all I could do is reach down and pet him and say, "what a good dog you are!"
I also saw him once go behind the TV and look inside it trying to find the dogs on TV.
He has long since passed away, but I still love him dearly. My Shih Tzu, Bogey, I confess, is not the brightest banana in the bunch. But he's the sweetest, most cuddly and loving dog, not to mention adorable.
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