Human children are, I'm afraid, exceptionally stupid. They are full of potential and cuteness but not much else when you think about it. I read this week that the average dog is as smart as a child aged about two and a half. Actually, I think that is underestimating the dogs. We may end up top of the tree but we spend a lot of time not even off the ground much less at the first branch. But ducklings at Roma Street Parklands today were happily swimming and eating solids at a couple of days old. A fur friend we met located a tap and drank from it. Of course my fur friends are doggy duxes. Winkle, for instance, has laundry abilities beyond the adult males I live with. She can not only bring in washing off the line but sort it. True, I rather wish she wouldn't single out my smalls, rip them off the line, bring them inside and chew them but she can do it. My dogs wait at the lights until they hear the audio pips and know that's the time to cross. They know when we are approaching South Bank and charge towards the duck pond. They can distinguish the sound of our cars from others in the street. It's the dogs who alert me when Margaret next door has fallen. They hear her. I do not. They watch me closely as I move about the house. The second I put on my shoes they are at the door ready to move. And while like every proud parent, I think they are exceptional, deep down I know they are not. Dogs are smart. All of them. And unlike human children they never learn to answer you back.
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