I don’t buy this, some dogs like attention and appear to look at the humans in their life as their pack. My current dog is fairly bright by dog standards and she shows more complex emotion than I believe you are giving credit for.
My last Dog was a Border Collie, he was abnormally bright and a problem solver. He took no time to learn his borders, he figured out how to bypass the invisible fence immediately. He learn how to open things up, he knew on his own to keep little kids away from the pool and kept my daughter from taking an unplanned dunk once. He would grab you by the sleeve or loose pants leg and lead you to what he wanted, especially my wife. We did not teach him this and we got him as a 10 week old pup without training. He paper trained immediately and was great at asking to go out even as a pup.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, he was smarter than any other dog I have known and yet not at all abnormal for a border collie. He also had unlimited energy it seemed. Sadly he died young from heat exhaustion.
The Crow or Corbae family is among the brightest animals, right behind the gray parrots from my understanding. Octopi and Cetaceans rate very high. Primates and especially Chimps and Bonabos are very bright. Some crows even show tool use as do many primates and some Cetaceans and Parrots.
Then we have canines, equines and porcines that show remarkable trainability and in some cases problem solving ability. Strictly from observation, raccoons appear to be good problem solvers, but I have not read any articles on their cognitive ability.
Jim (The Op did ask for our interactions)
ETA: I should add my first dog was little brighter than a rock. She was a sweet but goofy little mutt. Indeed, she inspired me to get a Border Collie as I wanted a “smart” dog. The current dog is a nice labbie mix.