I Knew my Dog Was Really Smart When..... - Page 1

ThoUght it might be fun to share stories about that moment that made you realize that your dog had more going on mentally than you may have previously given him credit for! Mine to follow.... Jackie harris

When he detected and alerted to my handicapped son's upcoming epileptic seizure.  he got very agitated, whining, pacing, and trying to lick his face.  This was something we never trained for or expected. 

When my female GSD started to take over some of my male's service dog tasks, without having been trained for them!

Recently, I installed a new doorbell system. The bell sends an infrared signal to 3 sets of chimes: one in the kennel, one in the house, and the third in the entranceway.

Recently, the chimes in the house haven't been working, and unless my service dog barks when he hears the chimes in the front entranceway, I don't know there's someone at the door. (I am severely hearing impaired.)

Last Saturday, I was expecting someoneone to come and pick up their dog. Ranger, my service dog was lying down, half alseep, when Star got up and ran to the door and gave a couple of woofs. Ranger still didn't respond. So, she ran to me and put her paws up on my  lap!

As I was expecting someone, I knew she was likely responding to the doorbell, so I got up and went to the door, and sure enough, that's what it was!

Poor Ranger...I guess he's ready for retirement. This is not the first time he's failed to respond to the front door chimes.  At least now I know I have another dog that's all too eager to take over his job!

My husband & I have both been under the weather lately, he's still recovering from his surgery & the complications he suffered, & I've been under the weather with bronchitis/pneumonia. Neither of us has been a ball of fire this past week, & so I've been crating the dogs at night, so we have our own space for a couple of days, at least until I'm a little more with it. Don't want any stupid accidents due to medicine head. Well this morning, Carl decided to let me sleep a little, & started taking out the dogs one at a time, then feeding them...nice guy! I usually take the morning duties, I have my own routine; I take out Kali, as she's the Queen of the house, then Beckett, then Bitty, & then my baby, Ansgar. Well of course, Carl did things his way. He took out the younger dogs, & then laid back down to take a break. He fell asleep, & suddenly we were both awoken by his screech! Beckett, who has a heavy duty metal crate, was standing next to the bed, carefully giving Carl dainty little kisses with his big ol' tongue. He didn't bother the girls, he didn't start anyone barking, he didn't investigate the trash, he just came in & quietly went right to Carl to let him know he couldn't wait any longer. No trouble, no surprises! What a totally good, smart dog! And how did he get out of that crate? jackie harris

LOL! Is the crate still in one piece?  

My female, Kali, has saved me from bad guys; put her self between my grandkids, when they were little, & a menacing adult, even between my granddaughter & her dad, when he wasn't acting right. She alerted to my low blood sugar, probably saving my life then, too. She has NO formal training, she's the smartest dog I've ever met. Sometimes I think she can read my mind, she's so in tune. Her dam, Foxy, alerted her owner by licking her neck. When her owner went to wipe off the dog kisses, wondering, "Why did she lick me there?", she discovered a lump on her neck. Turned out she had thyroid cancer. Because Foxy found her lump, she received treatment in time to have absolutely no further issues. Kali's daughter Lil' Bit knew when our neighbor's wife was ill, & when she passed away, she pushed her way into his home & onto his lap to lick away his tears. She's never done that since, & never did that prior to then. Now my Ansgar hasn't shown her stuff yet, but she's my Velcro dog right now, so she'll get her chance. jackie harris

Yes, the crate is intact, just with the door open. And their bedroom is next door to ours, & there was NO noise.....????? Still trying to figure this one out!!! Jackie harris

My daughter is home with Pango during the day. If her cellphone rings he barks like crazy so she will answer it. If she is on the porch and the phone is in the house he will bark and jump on the door to get her attention.

If the call is from me he will stand right next to her for the entire conversation. If it's from someone else he just walks away. He has even picked up the phone on his own and tried to open it.

When I get home he hangs out with me. He has a Kong that squeaks and keeps it with him. If my daughter talks to me from the other end of the house he squeaks the kong so loud you can't hear her. She stops talking he stops squeaking she starts talking again he squeaks so loud you can't hear her. It is sooo funny.

I love the anecdotes about GSDs alerting to peoples health issues, do other breeds do this also? Or is our breed the most in tune?

Freddy, you are lucky to have such a sensitive dog to help your child. I hope they are both doing well? Is your dog going to be trained to assist your child further?

Sunsilver, sounds like Star is ready to pick up the torch for Ranger! Remarkable dogs!

jackie harris

Jackie, Shilohs make good service dogs too. But of course, their gene pool has more GSD in it than anything else.

Earlier this year, a 15 week old Shiloh service-dog-in-training saved his owner's life when the man fell into a stream. He had suffered severe brain damage from an accident, and would frequently wander away and get lost. The dog not only grabbed his collar and pulled his head out of the water, it also led him home. When he was going too slowly for the pup's liking, it would grab his pant leg and pull.

Once he was home, and sat down in a porch chair, the dog climbed in his lap, to keep him from wandering off again!

And then, there's Mali, who is the aunt of my 2 year old Shiloh. She started acting up in Wal Mart, and tried to pull her owner off the scooter towards the aisle that had the soda pop. When that didn't work, she tried to get her to go to the bakery department. At that point, the light bulb went on, and her owner thought, "Hmmm...maybe Mali's trying to tell me my blood sugar is low!'  She grabbed a donut and checked out. When she got to the car, she found her sugar was so low that most diabetics wouldn't have been able to function. She was very close to losing consciousness.

For other Mali stories, just do a search for "Mali service dog' on this forum. She's done a lot of pretty amazing things!