Fate is an especially intelligent dog and I am studying her closely to write about the intelligence of dogs, something I am not always smart enough to see or understand. So I took this video to understand how quickly she  grasps the situations around her and how quickly she can change with little or no “training.”

Fate always jumps into the car first, and then poor Red gets pounced on when he jumps up also. Red was limping and injured recently and he was struggling to jump up into the car, something he normally does quite easily. Fate sensed Red’s comfort, and I said “wait, Fate, wait for Red.” So did Maria.

Now, when Red gets ready to jump up into the car, she hangs back, waits for him to jump up, and then jumps up after  him, she clearly sensed his struggle and acclimated to it. Fate is a dominant dog, after me, she is always first out the door or into a car. She is first everywhere, intense, curious, domineering.

On the surface, this is not a big deal. But if you examine it closely, it is interesting. Fate is adapting her normal behavior, sensing Red’s impairment, and grasping my cues to hang back. She started doing this on her own, and it was reinforced. But it speaks to her ability to conceptualize and respond.

Her willingness to wait for Red to take  his time and jump up into the car is striking. Come and see. This is a good example of the behavioral theory that dogs have a kind of consciousness. They can intuit change,  and can problem solve quickly and effectively, more than we might think.