A Dog's Eye View

Imagine you are standing in a room.  There is a door in that room. You open the door, exit the room and close the door behind you. After awhile, you open up the same door and walk back through the same doorway.  But this time....you're in a different room. 

You know what that is?  That is an elevator. To a DOG.  

Years ago my friend Lisa and I stayed at her dad's condo for a week while he went to Florida. We were there to watch his dog.  He lived really high up in the building.  Several times a day, Lisa and I took turns taking the dog outside.  It was winter, it was cold and sometimes, it was the middle of the night.   Mostly, it was annoying.   I say this as a previously spoiled dog owner. We lived in the bush with a lazy dog.   We didn't have to tie her up or pick up her poop.  

Anyway, on these many trips on the elevator with the dog, I wondered what the dog was thinking.  Did she have any concept of how high up we were? And if not, did she wonder why we always had to ride this elevator?  Though to her, it would haven't been an elevator.  It would have been the room we had to stand in for no reason each time she had to go to the bathroom.  

Dogs are smart animals.  They can do amazing things.  But to what extent do their brains process concepts?  Do they think or are they just trained to follow command and are creatures of habit and repetition?

I know my aforementioned dog was very smart.  She knew she had to get off the couch when my dad was coming.  But she also knew she could stay if it was anyone but him.  She processed that and made her decisions based on her thoughts.  

But guess what?  She also ate her own poo.  

So, how smart can she be?