My mother had a cat that could open doors. Pets are smarter than most people give them credit for man.
We have a dog door in the laundry room leading outside, and a pocket door leading to the laundry room. The dog can open the pocket door if she wants to; I’ve witnessed it when she really wanted to rush outside and bark at something. Yet when it’s closed and we’re around, she asks us to open it. You silly dog, I know you can do it because I’ve seen you do it. You ain’t fooling anyone. Why do I have to get off the couch to do something for you that we both know you can do yourself? I swear they’re just like children.
There’s a lot of variance.
My first cat could open doors and the fridge, was a master at hiding when something was up (he really did not like going to the vet) and once found, he would refuse to come out even for ham. Very cunning and smart, but also a poor hunter of mice and moles, he simply had no patience.
The second cat knew that he could technically open a door with his paw, if it was ajar, but he didn’t realize that he should move his head out of the way. He also thought that every exterior exit lead to a different world: if it was raining at the backdoor, then he asked you to open the garage door and so on, each time huffing in disappointment when it turned out to be raining there as well. He also didn’t like going to the vet and would start running away when he saw his crate, but when he inevitably encountered a closed door, then he would stay still and ask the nearest human to open it for him. Unlike the smart one, he was a very good mouser when he was young, a very patient and concentrated hunter.
This is how we met what would later become our dog. The door handles in our neighborhood were horizontal like this.
One day we saw this springer spaniel out running around the neighborhood without a collar on. He wouldn’t let us get close but we followed it back to what we assumed was its house because the door was open and he just ran back in. We left it at that.
Weeks later we see him posted on the local Facebook swap/sell page. The owners were getting rid of him because they were about to fly back to the states and couldn’t or wouldn’t go through the extra trouble to bring him along.
We met with the owners and as soon as we met them and shook hands he came and sat on my feet. Something about meeting his owners made him OK with being near us where earlier he wouldn’t let us get close.
He was the smartest dog we ever had but ended up getting cancer.
That little side-eye glance the dog gives as it walks past the camera person, Like “thanks for the help…”
As a dog owner, I have sleepless nights about this.
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My Akita-Pit used to do that all the time. Gave himself the run of San Juan Island on several occasions, and I met every one of the local sheriffs in turn within a month. They’re funny about their tourist-tamed deer, but all he wanted to do was race 'em. 🤗
My cat used to know how to open doors until we switched them for heavier doors
He can also use light switches
Maybe also get heavier switches?
