20 Animals Who Made Us Believe They Can Easily Trick Us and Show Their Smarts

Sometimes, we underestimate just how smart animals can be. They surprise us with their intelligence, and it’s downright adorable. It’s heartwarming to witness the clever antics of animals, proving that intelligence comes in all shapes and sizes, often catching us off guard and leaving us with a smile. On Reddit, people talked about how smart their pets are in a thread. Some stories were really cool!

• My dog places one of her squeaky toys near a small hole between our fence and the neighbors. She then squeaks it and waits for the dog next door to approach in anticipation of retrieving the toy just so she can bark at him. © Bl00d_0range / Reddit
• I was setting up my Christmas tree and was putting up the ball ornaments. They were in a box by the tree. My dog came by and tried to take some of the balls. I said that she couldn’t, they were for the tree. And did the “no” sign with my hands and pointed at the balls and then at the tree as I said it. She went on her way and a few minutes later she came back with her little play ball. She puts her little play ball in the box along with the other ornaments and pushes the box towards me. © Pinkhairedravenclaw / Reddit

“My 90 lb dog wears his cape of empowerment during thunderstorms.”

• I have a Senegal parrot and if I put a plastic bottle cap in his cage, he’ll put it in his beak, scoop it full of water out of his water dish, and then sit on his perch, hold it in one claw, and sip out of it like it’s a cup of coffee. I have no idea where he learned this! © Nickelbagn / Reddit
• My Siamese cat once opened a cupboard in the kitchen and dragged a sealed bag of cat food into the living room for me to open because I’d forgotten to feed her. © MechaGuru / Reddit
• I had a roommate who was a real bum to my dog. He would regularly walk by the dog and, without warning, jump at him and yell. One day the dog was lying by the front door when my roommate came home. The dog got up, walked into the kitchen, and hid to the side of the doorway. He waited for my roommate to walk in and then jumped out from behind the door and barked at him, scaring my roommate to death. Good boy. (P.S. My roommate moved out soon afterward). © raptorbluez / Reddit
• A chimp at a zoo was clapping like the star of the show and when we would start clapping he would dance for us. He was hyping us up. © greatrater / Reddit

“This is Loki. No one is allowed to sleep until he gets his own personal pillow.”

• A few years ago, there were a few slices of bread in the middle of the street for whatever reason. A few crows kept flying down and treating themselves, but whenever they did, one of the neighborhood dogs would come out and chase them off. The crows tried about 3 times to eat in peace, but the dog chased them off every time. So the crows then decided to land a little bit further away from the slices of bread and the dog ran toward them. The crows then flew off and landed about a meter away from where they had just landed. The dog followed them again. The crows repeated this until the dog was on a different street, and then they came back and chowed down. © RotomGuy / Reddit
• When I was a child, my friend and I were rounding up sheep with our fathers and their dogs. It was a hilly area, and we were pushing them down a gully into the yards. One of the dogs took off over a hill and about 15 mins later it met us back near the yards with 15 extra sheep that we had missed. © bmsbluemountainstate / Reddit
• I had this mutt beagle mix. One time I was making a sandwich, and he was begging for food, I promptly told him to go away. With a defeated look in his eye, he starts to walk away. All of a sudden his ears pop up, and he starts barking at the door and sits in front of it. He always did this if someone was at the door. I put my sandwich on the counter and go to the door to unlock it. Once I get to the door across the room jumps on the counter grabs the sand which and runs and hides. © captainbaugh / Reddit

“Meet our rescue dog April. The sweetest most well-behaved pup I’ve ever owned. When she smiles like this, you know she’s truly happy.”

• I work in a company that does video surveillance systems. Generally, most animals and even doves cross the street at the green light, but humans still cross the street at red lights.
• I have a conure, and he’s been trained to say, “go poop” whenever he has to poo so that we avoid him crapping on the couch. He also knows how to kiss and will say, “Hey Google” when he wants my attention because he knows it’s how I get Google’s attention. © birbbs / Reddit
• Whenever I let my dog dictate the walk (the “go sniff” command, where I let her lead and give her the full extent of the leash), she will walk me to the local pet store 100% of the time. © _iPood_ / Reddit
• My mother in law once threw a slipper at her dog like 8 years ago, because he was about to run into traffic and she wanted to stop him. She hit him in the face and his eye was hurting for a few days, so she was extremely nice to him, pretty much spoiled him. Even to this day, whenever she yells at him, he starts blinking with one eye, but he forgets which one it was, right or left, so he keeps switching them. © Randyy1 / Reddit

“My German Shepherd didn’t recognize me after 8 months apart. It wasn’t until I said his name that he realizes who I was! You can see the switch on his face. So sweet!”

• I have a golden retriever dog. He likes to swim a lot. We often go to the same beach and my fluffy friend has already remembered the way. When we are approaching the beach, he starts to jump inside the car, out of joy, anticipating the upcoming swimming. But if we swim together he always thinks that I am drowning. He always comes up to me, scratches me with his paws, and gives me his neck for support so that I can hold on to his collar. After that, he starts to pull me toward the shore.
• I have a Maine Coon and we lived in a ghetto apartment in Georgia. In the summertime it gets HOT. So my cat started jumping on top of the fridge and using his back foot to kick open the top of the freezer door, then he would jump down inside the freezer, and take cool naps. Clever little guy. © musicals4life / Reddit
• Once when I was feeding bread to ducks (I know, I know, this was a while back and we know better now), a heron came up to me, took some bread, threw it in the water, and grabbed the fish that came up to eat the bread. © Victorymm07 / Reddit

Pets aren’t just animals, they’re family and our best friends. They constantly surprise us with their love and companionship, making our lives richer and more joyful.