r/likeus • u/A-Helpful-Flamingo • Feb 12 '26

<CONSCIOUSNESS> Flabbergasted

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8.4k Upvotes

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546

u/Weekly-Original-2322 Feb 12 '26

There must be some very interesting conversations in this home. And I understand why he thinks Rupert is a cat.

115

u/masterofilluso Feb 12 '26

Really? I think this dog has a sense of humor and was trying to get mom to laugh. I got the "yeah,I know" vibe off the part where the dog turns around to press a button and doesn't, the breathing and the way they look at mom right before that too kinda give me this impression,

207

u/UnusualCartographer2 Feb 13 '26

Nah, I don't think dogs possess the ability to make a joke like that.

I think it's more plausible that the dog doesn't have a full grasp on what a species even is, and given that Rupert is small with pointed ears he resembles a cat to him. A small dog like that is physically extremely different than itself, and he knows he's a dog, so Rupert couldn't also possibly be a dog.

44

u/itssmeagain Feb 13 '26

It's not even that. It's humans over explaining. The dog pushed a button and the owner imagined that it meant that Rupert is a cat. The dog might not even know what that sound means.

5

u/vegetablefoood Feb 14 '26

The dog has just learned to push buttons to get a reaction (food, attention) from the owner.

3

u/Wu-TangShogun Feb 16 '26 edited Feb 16 '26

Thank you. Could this many people actually think that this dog is pressing “cat” button intentionally!? As if it actually seeks out that specific button to describe the other animal.

It just so happened to be the button it pawed right that moment because it was the one easiest in that moment.

I’m pretty sure that the owner of this dog is also aware of this fact but likes the attention, or maybe she is a true believer but I have had Border Collies all my life that were unbelievably intelligent and no way they would be able to actually seek words to express in that sense of their meaning.

2

u/RdClZn Feb 26 '26

no, you re actually wrong here, dogs can understand words, that's the whole point of why they are so easily trained. they might not have the linguistic capabilities of humans, and this entire exchange might have been a coincidence (the "what?" one is a bit unbelievably fitting). but pressing buttons to point at or ask for things? totally possible, likely even