I had a dog who watched television. He liked light comedy and would walk out of the room for police procedurals. He could spot a dog and bark at it, no matter how small or obscure on the screen. He would bark at CARTOON dogs on TV - even Snoopy, who if you think about it doesn’t really look like a dog. My brother thought that this was indicative of abstract thinking, which seemed to be impossible.
My FIL thought that we were insane until he came over and watched a Sopranos marathon with my dog. When he put the DVR on pause so that he could go to the bathroom, the dog would turn around and give him a dirty look. After that, he believed and told other people about it.
There is still a lot we don’t know about dogs, or how much they may have evolved during their symbiotic relationship with Man.
Indeed.
I had a Border Collie named Torey(RIP) who liked Classical Music. Her favorite was the “Farandole” from Bizet’s “L’Arlesian Suite”. She also loved when I played anything by Beethoven on the piano.
My Chowbrador, Lynn-Dah, has different tastes. She likes Pink Floyd.
My two maltepoos think puppy dogs are things that other people have..they don’t think they ARE dogs. They’ll come running to see puppy dogs on tv too -dog shows or commercials. Had a Sheltie who seriously believed he was one of the kids. Waited on school bus stops and wanted to get on. He even carried his own pumpkin and trick or treated with the neighborhood kids
If you raise them like kids/people thats how they behave. Some breeds ARE smarter than others.