# Can dogs & cats form and execute multi-step semi-complex plans? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 24, 2009, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454 "2009-05-24T10:50:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/21 "2009-05-25T14:48:46Z")
My office has five steps leading up to the second level. My Boss bought two Yorkies and one of them could not walk down those steps. His brother would see him sitting at the top crying, and he would go run up and down and up and down the steps. I swear he was laughing at his brother sitting there crying. It got so bad I finally taught the one to go down steps by putting him on the bottom step, putting his two front feet on the floor and pushing his butt down. Finally he realized what was involved and started running up and down the stairs with a look of “Hey. Look at what I can do” on his face. His brother never ran up and down the steps again. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/22 "2009-05-25T15:04:19Z")
My dad used to have a very mean cat named Daisy, who for some reason hated me. For Christmas break, I came home with my two cats, Dolphie and Thomas. I was sitting in the living room chair, and Daisy was behind it, growling at me. Thomas stood in the hallway, and Dolphie went behind the chair from the other side. This flushed out Daisy, who ran smack into Thomas, who was 28 lbs. of feline ass kicking. Dolphie came from behind, and together, they whupped Daisy’s butt. The idea of flushing Daisy out from her hiding place into a waiting Thomas seemed like what they would do to a mouse, but it was nothing if not a well-orchestrated plan. It warmed my heart, it did. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/23 "2009-05-25T15:33:25Z")
My now-deceased dog was quite intelligent, but she died years ago so the only thing I can think of at the moment is this: She liked to chew on our shoes. We scolded her for shoe-chewing, so she started putting her chewtoys in our shoes and then used playing with the toy as a cover for getting a chance to chew the shoes too. We thought that it was pretty clever that she had thought of such a “sneaky” way to do something we didn’t want her to do. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/24 "2009-05-25T15:45:20Z")
My recently passed away beagle was very smart. He acted like he had to pee and wanted my wife to let him out. He led her to the door and when she got close ,he broke for the bed, jumped in her spot and got under the covers and put his head on her pillow. When she got back he growled at her telling her to go away. He made a plan and executed it. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/25 "2009-05-25T16:53:10Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > Iirc it was the Battersea Dog’s Home and he didn’t let out _all_ the dogs, just his friends! And in the follow-up news story, he used to lock out his new, adoptive owners (dog humor!). A news crew set up a camera for them. It shwed that as soon as they’d leave the house, he’d stand on his hind legs and nudge the security bar thingy in place (I don’t know what they’re called, back in the day, it would have been like the extra door chain thingy). ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/26 "2009-05-25T17:03:52Z")
I think they can form pretty elaborate plans, expecially if “trained” step by step. Whenever I add an obstacle to my cat’s path to the flower pot he finds a new way to reach it, often finding a way to run through the now-long obstacle course. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/27 "2009-05-25T17:43:59Z")
When my family had cats, us kids would make paper airplanes and string a long tail to them for the cats to chase. (This was before we knew of the dangers of cats eating string, but we wouldn’t let ours eat the string, anyway.) One time I sailed a plane down a hallway, from where it arced gracefully into a bedroom. The string tail had managed to loop itself around a chair leg, forming an [overhand knot](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bsatroop512.org/downloads%255Cknots.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bsatroop512.org/general.htm&usg=__BvTJR0l7x7JVLa7D2A_Sy9U4iR4=&h=964&w=787&sz=775&hl=en&start=7&tbnid=3slMxMCfCRNagM:&tbnh=148&tbnw=121&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dknots%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG%26ie%3DUTF-8) [top left illustration]. Reaching the doorway and peeking in just as the cat reached the plane, I thought I’d have to intervene to free the plane from the chair, but held back to let the little girl have her fun. She nearly attacked the string’s trailing end, which would have tightened the knot. But just as she was about to lunge, she stopped short and delicately tugged on one segment of the string, then let go and eyeballed her handiwork before doing the same with another segment. After a long, patient tugging at that spot, she untied the knot and again let go of the string to take a look at what she’d done. Seeing it was all undone, she then lunged and attacked and utterly killed that sucker… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/28 "2009-05-25T17:57:49Z")
Back in the day, on a regular basis, my SO’s cat would open a door with a knob to a closed room, let the shitzshu dog in the room, then close the door again, trapping the shitzshu. The door opens OUT from the room, not into it either. Apparently it was either that, a ghost, or the dog was doing it to himself, any of which would be damn impressive in my opinion. On a sad note, they are now both very old, and I fear/expect the cat will need to be put down anyday now. Its like the pet version of the odd couple except they are both in a retirement home not doing well. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/29 "2009-05-25T20:33:20Z")
I had two cats, Alley was very smart but Bubba was not, and he fell for her tricks more than once. We had an end table with a cabinet at the base. The cabinet was too long and narrow to store anything in. However Alley found something she wanted to store in there. :dubious: One day, she opened the cabinet then hid behind the door. She then meowed until Bubba came into the living room. He went to the cabinet and looked in. He was hesitant, but he eventualy walked all the way in. Alley pushed the door closed and walked off. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/30 "2009-05-26T07:11:35Z")
I had two dogs at different times that figured out that water came from the faucet. So, when their water bowls were empty, they would get my attention, then go into the kitchen and stare longingly at the sink. Both of them were golden retrievers. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/31 "2009-05-26T13:27:39Z")
We had a silky terrier named Cindy for 17 years and she was as smart as they come. Being bratty kids, my brother and I would wake her up and say “Where’s Mum?”. She’d head straight into Mum’s room and go to her handbag, and stick her nose in it to look for Mum’s keys. If the keys (or handbag) weren’t there, she’d go back to her sleeping spot. If they were, she’d race around looking for her. Mum used to let Cindy carry the keys out to the car whenever she came out with us, so Cindy worked out that if the keys were in the house then Mum couldn’t be far away. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/32 "2009-05-28T01:06:50Z")
> [@3trew](#): > > My dog would, upon being let out into the back yard, go over to the fence and bark once at the neighbours’ dog. She’d then go lay down and ignore him, while he went nuts barking and trying to get into our yard. The neighbour, annoyed by the barking, would make him go inside. She would then get up and play. This happened every time he was out when she went out. > > My cat was looking out the window one day, when I saw him freeze into hunting mode. I looked out, and saw that Orange Cat was trespassing in his yard. I asked him if he wanted to go out and do something about it, and reached for the door knob. He jumped down and raced to the end of the living room, going the opposite way, and stared at me impatiently. I walked over to him, and he tore off down the hallway. I followed him, and he ran into the bedroom and started pawing at the window there. I don’t think I’m anthropomorphizing too much when I conclude that he wanted to avoid the noise of me opening the door alerting Orange Cat to the upcoming violence. This reminds me of my cat Alex, a big dominant orange thing as it happens. Alex was a stealthy cat who liked nothing better than to set an ambush. He’d scoped out a couple of spots in the garden that were excellent for this. He had a cat door but he trained me, by a judicious combination of pleading and filthy looks, not only to open the back door for him when he asked _but not to give him away while I was doing it_. If I was feeling particularly indulgent I’d even go out and flick the dustbin lid or something so any passing cats would think it was just me doing human stuff, no ginger cats going outside, no not at all. Another Alex story involves my younger cat, Cammy, using him as part of a set up to catch out one of their cat enemies, Nasty Tortie From Up the Road (NT for short). I live in a terraced house which has an alley (or ginnel as we say here) leading to the street. One sunny day Alex was relaxing in the shade of the ginnel when Cammy came running from the street. At the top of the ginnel she stopped and looked over her shoulder before carrying on. Turned out she was making sure that NT was following, as indeed she was. Never one to pass up a chance of chasing Cams NT came pelting down the ginnel after her. She didn’t see Alex lying there until she was right on top of him. Even then she might have gotten away with it if she hadn’t given him the arched back and a hiss. A couple of biffs from Alex’s formidable paws later off she went, pelting up the ginnel with an angry orange cat close behind. I’ll never know if Alex was somehow the mastermind behind it all but he certainly taught little Cammy all she knows. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/33 "2009-05-28T03:03:15Z")
We had our cat at the vets for a check and he wasn’t pleased with that. He didn’t actually get to follow through, but I saw him eyeing an escape path that meant jumping from the table to the top of the x-ray reader over the wall. (the exam rooms didn’t have walls all the way to the ceiling) I thought I was just nuts at first, but my partner also noticed him planning an escape. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/34 "2009-05-28T03:25:05Z")
> [@Pyper](#): > > I’ve told this before, but my greyhound Apollo used to scratch at the back door at night as if he needed to go out to pee. When my dad would get off the couch to let him out, Apollo would race over and jump on the vacated couch, laying his head on the vacated pillow. There really is no removing a greyhound from a couch. My dog (a dalmatian) would do the exact same thing! He wanted to sit on the chair when it was warm so he would fake like he wanted to go out, and then when we got up he would jump right on there and curl up. ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/35 "2009-05-28T04:06:34Z")
My cat Shades would meet my brother and I at the bus stop and walk us home like she was our mom. When we would go to the library, she would follow us and sit on the steps until we were done. Then she would walk us home. ---
**Author:** ![Arglefraster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@Arglefraster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arglefraster)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/36 "2009-05-28T13:05:43Z")
I had a frog once that I kept in an aquarium. The aquarium lid didn’t fit quite right, so it just sat loosely on top of the tank, not latched down or anything. The tank was tall enough that the frog couldn’t reach the top, so I didn’t worry about it being latched. One evening I’m watching tv and I hear a weird noise coming from his tank. Kind of like Thump Screeeeee. In the middle of his tank was a plastic fountain thingy. He was climbing to to the top of the fountain, then jumping to the side of the tank. He’d make it about halfway up, then slowly slide down the glass to the bottom. He was doing this over and over. Each time, he’d get belly slime on the glass. Then the next time he jumped, he’d stick to his own belly slime on the glass, and scramble just a little bit higher. This would get belly slime higher up on the glass, so each time he was able to reach a little bit higher. Eventually, he managed to get to the top, push the lid askew, and get out of his tank. I got an aquarium with a properly latching lid after that. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/37 "2009-05-28T13:33:32Z")
My mother had a cocker spaniel puppy who was just being housetrained (maybe 3 months old). Mother would take her out during the day but put newspaper down at night. One day Mother wasn’t paying attention as Blossom kept trying to get her to take her out. So Blossom grabbed a section of the paper, laid it on the floor and wet on it. Not bad for an infant. StG ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/38 "2009-05-28T20:42:17Z")
[Birds do it](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090525173540.htm): > [@](#): > > In a series of experiments, the rooks quickly learnt to drop a stone to collapse a platform and acquire a piece of food, and subsequently showed the ability to choose the right size and shape of stone without any training. > > Not only could they use stones to solve the task, but they were flexible in their tool choice, using and modifying sticks to achieve the same goal. When the correct tool was out of reach, they used another tool to get it, demonstrating the ability to use tools sequentially. In further tests, the rooks were able to use a hook tool to get food out of a different tube and even creatively bent a straight piece of wire to make the hook to reach the food. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454/39 "2009-05-29T16:30:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Iirc it was the Battersea Dog’s Home and he didn’t let out all the dogs, just his friends! Brilliant! I somehow missed that bit… My cat, who despised my brother’s dog, had worked out that he wasn’t allowed upstairs. His front paws were allowed on the stairs; back paws had to stay on the floor. She figured out exactly which step he could reach, sat on the step above it, miaowed till he came bopping up and stretched his way up the stairs wanting to play, and then smacked him across the nose. Not nice, but definitely a plan. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-dogs-cats-form-and-execute-multi-step-semi-complex-plans/497454.md?page=1)