15 Stories That Prove Animals Are Way Smarter Than We Think

We’re used to thinking that our pets make their own weird life decisions. They often do inexplicably stupid things and if they obey our rules, they only do it because we trained them to. But in reality, this is not always the case. Sometimes they show such ingenuity or a very deep understanding of the situation that even their owners cannot immediately understand what’s going on in their heads.

We at Bright Side found out that people around the world have shared stories about animals who really surprised them with their intellectual abilities and character. So we couldn’t resist and picked out the most striking ones.

• When I was a kid, we had 2 dogs: a Pyrenean Shepherd and a Labrador Retriever. The Retriever was goofy, but the Shepherd was smart. One day, the Retriever managed to get loose somehow (we had to tie him up in the yard because he kept chasing birds), and the Shepherd ran after him. We didn’t even realize what happened until we saw the Shepherd coming back with the Retriever, holding the would-be runaway’s leash in his mouth. Our neighbors were probably very surprised to see such a spectacle. © dalenacio / Reddit

• When my boyfriend and I have a fight, my cat gets very worried. She immediately runs to me, nervously meowing along the way, gets closer to my face, and rubs against my cheek. When I cry, she licks my tears and won’t calm down. This is all very touching, especially the fact that she reassures only me. But I didn’t expect that one day, in the midst of an argument, she would stick her fluffy head into my mouth to make me stop yelling. It was so funny that I couldn’t continue to fight. © Overheard / vk

• Our dog is obese and she weighs almost 110 lbs. We also have a bunch of cats. Once, our dog came home after a walk and saw that the cats had occupied her beloved couch. She went over to them and barked, but the cats ignored her. And then she decided to just lay down right on top of them... © Overheard / vk

• Once, my cat wouldn’t let me go to sleep and insisted that I follow her to the kitchen. We had just gotten a new stove with a glass cooktop and I didn’t realize that one of the burners was still on very low. Thanks, kitty. © basepair86 / Reddit

• When my dog ​​wants to get my attention, he gently bites a piece of furniture, then freezes and makes aggressive eye contact with me. This is strange and funny at the same time. But it works!

• My parents rescued a cat when I was just 2 weeks old. She decided I was her kitten and looked after me like I was her own. When I would cry, she used to sit up on her hind legs, put her paws on my shoulder, meow in a concerned way, and lick my face. She slept in my bed every night until she passed away when I was 14. RIP, Rosa, my other mother. © fadetongue / Reddit

• I had a donkey that could open the gates for the horses and cows. After that, he’d just walk through the fence into a closed pasture. Once, when I got back from running errands, our place was in complete chaos. The horses were destroying the hay barn and the cows were in the neighbor’s hayfields or tearing up the lawn. And the donkey was off on his own like he had nothing to do with it. © TheDukeOfDonkeys / Reddit

• A couple of years ago, my grandmother started having problems with her legs. Once, she fell while she was walking in the living room. When our dog saw her, he ran all around the house looking for another person, but my grandma was alone that day. When he didn’t find anyone, he lied down and sat with her until she found the strength to stand up again. She told the whole family about it and we were all grateful to him because he was there for her that day. © axioche / Reddit

• When my house caught on fire, my cat hid under an old comforter. It saved his life because the layers of the comforter acted as an air filter and saved him from dying of smoke inhalation. © BohoBri / Reddit

• Today, at the hippodrome, we were allowed to feed the horses carrots, but this horse wasn’t allowed to eat them because of gastritis. He wanted one sooo much. I couldn’t resist and took a picture:

• I was cleaning my room one morning. My hands were occupied, so I couldn’t open the door. My cat was lying on the floor, so I said to him: “Could you please open the door? I can’t do it myself.” And the most amazing thing is that he actually understood me! He got up, lazily went to the door, unlatched it with his paw from below, opened it, and went to lie back down. © Overheard / vk

• When I was a kid, we had horses. And there was this one mare who was just too smart. She would shove hay and different objects under her water spigot and flood the barn if you didn’t pay enough attention to her. She had 4 locks on her stall because she figured out how to open all of them, including a caribeaner clip. She also escaped her stall during the night, unlocked all the other horses’ stalls, and had a horse party until morning. There were half a dozen horses in the garden eating the summer vegetables and another half dozen were clip-clopping down the road, confusing motorists. © droppingeves / Reddit

• I was on my way to the bathroom, took my shorts off, and put them on the sofa. I took a bath, returned back to the room, and saw that my shorts had disappeared. But I was sure that they were on the sofa. My cat had been sleeping on the chair this whole time. So I started looking for my shorts and it turned out that my cat had taken them, dragged them to the closet, and put them on the lower shelf. That’s right, we need order in our house. © Overheard / vk

• When I was a kid, I got mad at the adults, so I was just sitting alone and crying. Our dog saw me, dug up a bone that she had hidden, and put in front of me. My comforter. © Overheard / vk

• I wasn’t feeling well and decided to sleep a little bit, but my dear kitty would not leave me alone. He kept poking at me until I got angry and tried to get up. Then I realized that I was really ill and called 911. I was having a massive heart attack with no pain. My cat saved my life. © free_willi / Reddit

Have you personally witnessed any extraordinarily meaningful behavior in animals? What happened in these situations?