On Tuesday I gave a lecture in my UW class about tool use and the cultural transmission of information in non-human animals. It’s one of my favorite lectures; it does my heart good to ponder so many interesting examples of our connections with other animals. The list of discoveries of animals using tools is ever growing; ever since Jane Goodall discovered chimps using modified twigs to catch termites, researchers have observed crows in Australia manufacturing hooked tools to pry insects out of bark, dolphins carefully placing sponges over their rostrums to protect their tissues while foraging, chimpanzees using two tools (hammer and anvil) to crack nuts… the list goes on and on. Here’s a truly great video of New Caledonian Crows figuring out how to combine a penchant for nuts and civilization (this is definitely worth the time!)
So… all this talk about animals using tools got me to thinking. Does anyone know of any credible examples of a dog or cat using tools? (Define tools as “objects external to the self that are used to accomplish a goal.”) I can think of a video I saw of a dog pulling a dog house several feet so that s/he could reach some food, but not much else. Any one else? Any examples of dogs or cats using tools?
Meanwhile, it was a wonderful weekend. Temps in the 30’s and sunny besides. Saturday we went to an orchid show and soaked in the displays of almost obscenely colorful flowers, as thirsty for color as a desert floor for water.
The lambs got to gamble in the sun too; here’s white dude posing for me:
And here’s a close up of my lovely Lassie girl, so soft (and wondering what the heck I am doing w/ that rude, black ‘eye’ so close to her face!
TD Yandt says
Using tools independent of human intervention would also be something to clarify. Dogs can use any number of tools when trained to do so (like paint brushes, laundry baskets, and vacuums)… but to do so independent of our interaction is something I haven’t seen. Very interesting topic. Hope others have some stories to share.
Mary Ellen Hluska says
Patricia,
Years ago I had a tweenie sized, pound rescued, type A Dachshund–Saucidog. She was so hard to train and taught me so so much. She did a few things that surprised me, things to give her height and big dog status. She would climb chairs and some how got the chair close to the counter where she ate a sandwich. She used to hold onto things and swing herself up. She would hold onto dishtowels and try to pull herself up onto the counter. I stopped putting them on handles after i saw her scaling the stove as the oven door was openning! She would also grab tree branches when going for squirrels, and swing herself right into a tree! now she did this on a small crab apple tree at my parents and jumped once about 4 feet in the air and hung on for her life in a small oak tree they have, again after a squirrel! She swung her self but only landed in a heap at the base of the tree. We tried to get pictures but it was hard to see her.
My current dog, Floyd the Portuguese Water dog, does not have nearly as much ambition in these things. Although he will climb chairs to get closer to the table for food.
Crystal says
My dog certainly MANIPULATES objects to get what she wants (think treat dispensing toys like the tug-a-jug or a buster cube), but that’s not quite the same as using a tool, is it?
Elizabeth says
What about the youtube videos of cats who flush toilets? They’re accomplishing a (very catlike) goal of amusing themselves. That’s my first thought!
Keith says
I think we are the tools in a dogs life. They use us to provide them with food, water and shelter. All they have to do is look at us with those soft brown eyes and wag their tail.
Emily says
My ACD/BC mix Franklin uses our stone-tiled floor as a “tool” (loosely defined…I guess). When he gets stuffed bones, he’ll clean out what he can reach of the filling, then take them to the tile floor, and toss them up in the air and let them smash down on the stone tile. He’ll do this over and over until the bones shatter and he can lick out whatever stuffing was in them. Our other two dogs watch him do this, but have never attempted it themselves. They will sometimes try and snag a split-open bone fragment, though. Interestingly enough, Franklin has also quickly realized that the wood floor is not hard enough to shatter bones, neither is the carpet. He always heads for the tiled kitchen/dining room…
Amy says
My GSD uses the couch to monitor what’s going on outside in front of the house. Instead of standing at the window all day, he lays on a certain side of the couch, so he can keep tabs on the neighborhood. If the blinds are closed, he has no interest in laying in that particular spot on the couch. I’m not sure that is exactly the kind of tool use you were referring to, but it helps him accomplish his goal – it elevates hin enough that he can see out the window without having to stand in front of it all day.
Cindy M says
What about the dog who wants up on the couch in the “most favored position” next to Mom, except that it’s currently occupied by a canine housemate. So the enterprising dog gets one of her squeaky toys and makes a big deal out of squeaking it until the housemate gets up off the couch to investigate, at which time our clever hound leaves the toy and jumps up into the now-vacated comfy spot on the couch. This uses the toy as a tool to influence the behavior of another (and also implies a theory of mind, as well as deliberate deception). I’ve seen (and heard of) this.
ABandMM says
I have had dogs that were more adept at using their paws than others, including one dog, Thunder, that was able to move kitchen chairs so that she could sit on them and then on the kitchen table. She then did the “Snoopy vulture” look as she peered over the newspaper you were reading to see what you were having for breakfast! Another dog was very good at carrying a ball in her mouth but could not figure out how to use her paws to eat a big bone. It was actually quite funny watching try and eat a prime rib bone.
Of course there are the dogs that can use their paws, noses and other body parts to get most anything off a countertop or open the 7/8th closed plastic lid of the cookie bin. I try not to have anything around that could be used as a “tool”. Once you have your dog eat the TV remote control, you tend to do a better job puppy/dog proofing the house (well at least I did!).
I would imagine some service dogs have been trained to do some amazing things that would resemble “using tools”.
parlance says
My dog sometimes gets frustrated because something has rolled under a piece of furniture. She whines until I come to see what’s the problem, keeps whining until I pick up a long wooden ruler to fetch the lost object out from under. She relaxes and waits while I do it. It’s not tool use, because she can’t get the ruler, but I think she at least understands the concept that the long stick gets things out.
Sabine says
Crows are such smart creatures. I sometimes spend time observing them and saw on more than one occasion, how two or three of them were “herding” squirrels into traffic for them to get run over by cars. Pretty cruel method, but nonetheless a very intelligent one.
I can’t remember if I ever saw a dog use a tool per say. Dogs learn to use tools, i.e. the bell at the door to demand a potty break . That’s a learned behavior on not really the use of a tool.
The only thing that comes to mind is one of my dachshunds who learned to open the patio door by throwing his weight against it from the outside to make it bounce and open. His tool is his body. My dane figured out how to unlatch gates in the yard all by himself. Again – no tool, just his teeth. It’s not like a chimpanzee using a stick to get access to some termites or using a stick as a weapon. There are a lot of things we can TEACH a dog to do, but using tools ? I don’t know. . .
My dane loved to do household chores: http://666kb.com/i/b64vyonrktsie038v.jpg
LynnSusan says
I think if you consider amusement or play a real goal, then I think we all have examples of tool use we have observed, but might take for granted. Who has not seen a dog toss rocks in the air, without any coaching (and in my dog’s case, a lot of discouragement)? My dog does that to invite me to play fetch with a real toy (but sometimes she likes the rock better)
I have one very clever cat who uses a brown grocery bag as a form of transportation. She runs full tilt into the bag and skittles across the hard wood floor—over and over again—just for the sheer delight of it. I didn’t train her to do that, it is a game she invented.
Claudia says
(Define tools as
Jennifer Hamilton says
I can’t think of an actual tool use example, however my dog does seem to grasp the idea of when a tool would make life easier. For example, if she pulls a greenie out of the bin that is not in a wrapper, she will take it over to her bed and start chewing it. If she grabs one that is still in it’s individual wrapper, however, she always brings it over to me to unwrap for her…even if I’m in a different room. Same holds true with other items. If treats or kibble are in an open bag, she will help herself. If treats are in a bag that is closed (i.e. ziplocked), she will always bring the bag over to me to open for her rather than simply chew through the plastic herself…even though she is quite capable of chewing a hole through the bag. I find this particularly interesting in that if she bring it to me, her odds are not 100% that I’ll let her have it whereas if she chewed through the plastic herself, she would have a 100% chance of getting at the food.
P.S. Although my dog does not do this, I do know dogs that pick up their leash and take it to their owner when they want to go for a walk. Would that be considered using a tool?
Dee says
I can completely understand you offering sympathy to owners of smart dogs. I have one of those. I recently acquired a 6-month-old Vizsla puppy. High energy breed that he is I cannot leave him free in the house while I go to work, so he often ends up spending 3-4 hours in his crate during the day. High energy breed that he is, he doesn’t really approve of the crate. Like many of the books that I’ve read have suggested I started putting treats into his crate at times that he didn’t have to go in and leaving the door open to try and make it a more friendly place. He has responded by pawing at the crate bedding to pull the treats to the door where he can eat them without having to actually venture in.
Susan Mann says
Years and years ago, my first dog Pepper was a fetch-a-holic. One day I threw out both a frisbee and a ball, to see which one he would bring back. After running between the two a few times, he then managed to put the ball in the frisbee and carry that for a short distance. Wish I had it on video!
Christine says
This is a great topic that I have been pondering for a few days now in relation to both dogs and horses. I have a lab that learned on her own to open our doors. They have the sideways, paddle style handles and she just reaches up, flips the handle and pushes on the door to get inside the room. I guess she watched us using them and figured it out since I have never seen her scratch on doors. I am not sure if it counts as tool use, but she clearly figured out that if she did flip the handle, she could get where she wanted to be. Same thing with our “Houdini” horse. He knows how to open latches… both to get out of his stall and into the feed room. They are not taught behaviors, but they both know that if they use a certain piece of hardware a certain way, they can get what they want.
wegobad says
I first noticed crows dropping nuts onto the street 6 or 7 years ago. At the time, I thought to myself, “Holy cow! That’s tool use!” It helped change my perceptions of animals generally… Those Japanese crows have taken it a step further. (I’ll be *really* impressed when they start pushing the traffic light “walk” button to stop traffic!)
“Objects external to the self that are used to accomplish a goal”… We have a cat who will step on the telephone “speaker” button when the food dish is empty. The resulting obnoxious beeping noise brings us downstairs to hang up the phone; she meows at the empty food dish; we fill it. (Hmm…. maybe I’m a tool…)
I want to think of an example with dogs, but aside from standing atop things to reach other things, I’m not remembering any. Oh, one of our dogs (Jack Russell Terrier mix, we think) does the trick Cindy M mentioned. He will often make a big deal of the bone or toy he’s chewing, to lure another dog away from a cushion or another resource. But I’d like to come up with an example like using a stick to knock over the cookie jar, or something… I guess they’re too well-behaved?
Sabine says
I just remembered something that occurs on a daily basis in our house. Again – there is no tool involved like sticks, hammers or drills, but it is a behavior, which the dog taught himself without my doing.
The creature in question is my seven year old wirehair dachshund. Mr. Personality and smarty pants. He is the most opportunistic dog I have ever met. He comes first. Some people would call him rude. (In a loving way……) This wonderful (adopted) dog of mine sleeps in a soft crate at night because we have still unsoiled carpeting in the bedroom and would like to keep it that way. From a previous life and late neutering he likes to mark the bookshelves on occasion and I can live without that – really. Therefore: He has his den and he loves to go in there at night. No problems there. I do feed my dogs quite early. 5:30 a.m. to be exact and dachshunds are by nature very greedy and always hungry animals. Mr. Rude has now figured out – all by himself – how to unzip his crate. Around 5:28 a.m. you get this campground feel by listening to the unzipping of his “tent”. I changed the position of the zipper around and it does not make a difference. He finds the zipper, pulls it in and unzips the “door”. Upon completion he runs downstairs to the kitchen and waits in front of the refrigerator until I arrive. Before you know it, he’ll be opening that door too and then we’re in real trouble, should he ever learn to pull up a chair and get to the meat locker.
Here is an impression of that lovely little lunatic: http://666kb.com/i/b66udlwdl5dgpek4v.jpg
David Gripenstam says
Hi Patricia,
Interesting post!
One tool which I’ve found my dogs using (which has not been taught by us in any way but is instead totally trial and error learning) is that when we give them a stuffed Kong or even a nice big chew, they prop it up against certain furnitures to help keep it still whilst they “digg in”.
Usually Milly our Border Collie uses the sofa and half squeeze it between a couple of the seats. Our little Bischon Fris
Sang says
I know this isn’t about dogs, but since you mentioned crows in your original post Patricia, I thought I’d just add to it by linking this talk given by Joshua Klein, at the TED conference about the intelligence of crows. He create a “vending machine” for crows. I’d explain it, but it’s better just to watch his presentation……
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/joshua_klein_on_the_intelligence_of_crows.html
Marlies says
Regarding Kong behavior, one of my border collies, Hamish, tosses them to jar loose any stuck morsels. He throws them off the bed. I have a rule: no Kongs or bones on the bed or they end up on top of the dresser. So he’s discreet except you can hear the thud next door. He likes to walk about flinging them too. He hasn’t discovered propping, but he does hold it and adjust for the proper angle. The other two border collies roll their eyes because they know there will always be another Kong tomorrow. Hamish’s nick name is Frat Boy. He wouldn’t think of herding anything.
Kathy says
I just found your blog! I’m thrilled that you have one!
In the Open Health Registry for Golden Retrievers, there is a note from the owner of One Ash Stardust Royal Ruckus (now deceased) about him using a stick to reach for an object to pull it closer to him in order to retrieve it for his owner. You have to register to view the Open Health Registry, but it’s free. You can search on “One Ash” to find him.
I am certain that his owner would be happy to verify this for you, if you wished. I believe she lives in Tennessee.
J. says
Recently, on PBS, I saw an episode of Nature (
andrea (scout.) says
i realize i’m a bit late on responding to this post… i’ve never commented before, but have found such comfort and insight in your books since we brought home our three year old, 10 pound rescue mutt, bradley. i just had to share.
bradley’s history was veiled in both mystery and tragedy, and we knew we had many HUGE obstacles to overcome in his training. he was docile, shy with humans, submissive to a fault, and though never aggressive, fearful of many things. we began immediately with positive reinforcement (love the clicker!), but eventually separation anxiety began to rear it’s terrifying head. within only a few days he began to see his kennel as the enemy/a barrier to be thwarted (rather than a safe place). i arrived home one evening to discover an empty kennel and a wounded dog racing around the house. a kong, a water bowl, and several chew toys (tug ropes etc.) were wedged into the same corner of the kennel, each toy higher up than the next, which through apparent jimmy-ing, bent the steel bars of the crate top to bottom and allowed him to escape. when we reported this news to our trainer, she was shocked. her exact words were, ‘that’s a frightening amount of tool usage.’ truly. it took me a whole afternoon to figure out how to disassemble it before taking it back to the store. my dog is smarter than i am.
of course i have to add that this story does have a happy ending. after three months of intensive training, our little guy is doing SO well. not sure if he’ll ever be ‘cured,’ but he we are patient and his growing confidence is so inspiring. we still have hope that one day he will view a kennel as a happy place, but until then, we will always have this little story as a reminder of how far he’s come. (and as a reason to roll our eyes when people suggest that tool usage in dogs is impossible! 🙂
Nicola says
I used to put a bone in a wooden playpen on a towel for my small dog who could fit through the bars so the big dog couldn’t get both bones. Looking out the window one day, I saw my (very smart) kelpie x manipulating the play pen & the towel with her paws & mouth to bring the bone close enough to grab through the bars. Once i saw her lift the playpen briefly with her mouth while using a paw to get the bone out!
I can’t remember where I first heard this but a common story in Australian circles of a dog (I think a boxer) who jumped onto the lounge, In an effort to deter him, the owners placed mousetraps on the lounge. They came home to find the dog on a blanket on the lounge – video another day showed the dog dragging the blanket across the mousetraps to set them off!
Stephen Meadows says
My 4 year old Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen uses a small stone in her mouth behind her teeth as a comb for grooming her self. It’s amazing to see, if she can’t find a small stone in the house (we have a gravel drive outside and they get walked in frequently) she will sit by the door until you get a stone for her and will start grooming herself with it.
Katie says
I have wondered the same thing about tool use in dogs! My Aussie doesn’t like to chew on hard biscuits — she runs around the house nervously holding them in her mouth until they’re soft enough that she’s comfortable chewing them. We were astonished one day when she immediately took a biscuit we’d given her to her water bowl, dropped it in, and waited a few minutes until it was soft to eat it. Tool use!! But it was a false alarm — a friend who had recently been watching her had put one of the cookies in her water bowl in front of her to help her get it soft. So it was a learned behavior and not self-taught tool use — but still impressive, that she learned the behavior after one time being shown!
Trisha says
These examples are so interesting I’m going to write my next Bark column about the topic! Thanks SO much.
Susan says
My mini poodle, Butch, (almost 2 years old) uses dog bedding and towels to play fetch by himself. He puts his toy (usually a small, rubber turtle) on the bedding and then pulls at the end of fabric as quickly as he can to launch the toy into the air. He then retrieves the toy and repeats the process.
Tamara says
Our Australian Cattle Dog, Kiko, uses grooming stones. She’ll wander about the yard, picking little stones out of the dirt, tossing them about in her mouth. When she finds one that suits her, she’ll lie down on the porch, position the stone just so between her teeth and begin grooming. She’s been doing this since she was about 2 years old, and after much observation, I can say that her preference is for pumice!
david armbruster says
Here is an example. A friend of mine has a jack russell that plays with a large plastic blow up ball that is larger than the dog. The dog runs the ball all over the yard pushing it with its head. he also steers the ball with his head and can control its travel path quite well. I saw this for the first time several weeks ago and the dog had a small stick, he picked up on the lawn, side ways in its mouth. My friend said he often does this as it helps him steer the ball. Of course, he picked this tool using up on his own.
Marcel says
My chihuahua/dachshund mix uses his chewing bones and rope toys to push balls out from under furniture that he can’t reach.
Kathie says
My dog uses a tool to produce lint and dust motes that she enjoys chasing. The dog will drag a pillow off of the couch and into the patch of sunlight coming through the skylight, shake the pillow, and chase the motes. When they are all gone, she shakes the pillow again. She has also used a favorite stuffed toy in the same way, purposely getting the toy from another area and bringing it to the light to shake. It doesn’t produce as much lint as the pillow and she seems to have abandoned that “tool”, at least for now, in favor of the pillow.
Mona says
My adopted German shepherd, Ranger, has always “thought” outside the box since I brought him home at age six months. At 8 months, he invented his own game of tug-of-war using 20-30 ft tall bamboo stalks in which he somehow bent the tops so they were dangling just above his reach. He had loads of fun running and jumping trying to grab the bamboo and to bring it down to tug on. When one stalk was shredded, he started on another. He was quite proud of himself.
He has a Planet ball, which I fill with treats. Instead of hurling it on the floor like his Kong toys, he found it’s much more efficient to place the ball in his “soft” bed and “dig” on the bed to make the ball twirl in place, thus releasing the treats neatly onto the bed. He also pulls the bed onto a solid color rug so he sees the treats more easily– we have terrazzo floors. I have photos showing him in action.
In August, Ranger’s most impressive use of a tool was moving a shopping cart with his paws to put a barrier between me and a scary stranger at the pet store. We, along with my other adopted German shepherd, Jackson, bought dog treats and I moved the full-sized shopping cart against the wall by the cash registers while I made ID collar tags. Jackson sat behind me, while Ranger sat next to the cart about two feet away. The attendants were away from the registers when a man walked up and began filling his pockets with the free doggie treats. Both dogs, on alert, moved closer to me. The man continued to fill his pockets with items around the register. Ranger sensed my discomfort and he got nervous when the man began to move toward us. Ranger (95 lbs.) grabbed the bottom of the cart with his paw and began pulling it toward us. It took him less than a minute to maneuver it horizontally between us and the man. The man turned around. If it was any other dog, I wouldn’t have believed it. Under other circumstances, Jackson would have given a low warning growl to a “scary” person, but we were at their favorite store where everyone is supposed to be nice.
Dan Smith says
I have a nine year old Golden Retriever that is extremely allergic to flea feces. She has now a habit of rubbing on out stucco wall to alleviate her itching. I have encouraged her not to… yet she persists. She cannot reach the itching end of her rear with her mouth or claws…and I believe this to be a tool she uses as common as it is. She uses a wall to scratch her rear end.
bamboo print says
Your ideas have been perculating in my brain. I have been using them.
Justin Lancaster says
Tool-use by a cat documented at http://tiny.cc/tuHbN . Also can be found by Googling “cat tool-use”.
Stacey Dunleavy says
I know this is a late post, but my pointer, Diana, used a blanket to escape from her crate. We had it draped over the crate for warmth, and she pulled it through the bars, bent them, and escaped. For another escape, he also realized that once the bars were bent, all she had to do was jump on the sides at the right angle and the whole crate would collapse. We tried using zip ties at the corners of the bars, but she found the one that was zipped the wrong way, bent the bars again and escaped. Finally, we thought we could keep her crated when all the zip ties were done correctly, and we moved the crate to a warmer room where she wouldn’t need a blanket. However, she tried using the cotton rag rug the same way as the blanket in her first escape. My husband came home to all the furniture pulled over surrounding the crate, and the rug halfway inside it. Unfortunately, the rug didn’t survive (luckily it was a cheap one that we were replacing anyway), and Diana had ripped her dew claws in the process. Since she is determined to be crateless, we just keep the first floor as dog proof as possible, and we’re all happy.
David says
Since dogs are so intensely social, I think using objects to bring about social interaction would have to be included as well as using objects to get food.
Our dalmatian/pit mix frequently uses a ball or other play object, to tempt humans or our other dog to play with her. She has learned to bounce tennis balls on the floor and catch them in her mouth. Our other dog — a malinois — responds to her manipulation but hasn’t copied it.
What if a dog found a random stick on its own, designated it a play object, and brought it to a human with an obvious invitation to play? I thought of this as a possible example of tool use by dogs and will be watching for it in the future.
It seems to me there’s plenty of borderline/incipient tool use in dogs. They clearly understand that objects in their environment — including humans — can be manipulated in goal-driven ways. But do they ever modify objects in order to use them?
Tool use by dogs may be limited more by dexterity than intelligence. Their paws and mouths can only do so much Now I consider dogs more intelligent than cats. Dogs apparently understand more words for example, and their play interactions are innovative. You really don’t train dogs to catch frisbees, they just start doing it for fun and get better with practice. I have yet to see a frisbee-catching cat. My cat is also quite social but he always wants to follow the same script with me where a dog would get bored and vary the routine.
Nevertheless cats opening doors is commonplace behavior, and they do seem to get the idea independently. I don’t doubt that some cats have learned it by watching other cats, but cats acquired as kittens with no older cats around to teach them also manage to learn this trick. I haven’t seen dogs opening doors and I think the reason is that they lack dexterity. For them it’s easier to practice a little social engineering and persuade a human to do it. In fact there is a huge amount of specialization between dogs and humans. Dogs seem to have a hard-wired understanding that humans are more dexterous and only need to be manipulated into helping out.
dylan says
my dog has picked up a bowl full of food and moved it where he wanted to eat it
Thomas B. Perry says
All animals think to a greater or lesser degree. One must be patient and not read an answer where there isn
Mark says
My Malinois-mix carefully puts a small ball on the floor, then lies his back on it to give himself a massage. No one taught him this, nor used any similar object to massage him. If he had hands, I’m sure he’d make more obvious use of such tools.
gail says
my one year old chocolate labrador has a foot long piece of 3″ x 3″ fence post which he carried around ,,when he is given a bone or chew stick of any length he will fetch the fence post,,place it in the middle of the room,,lay the new chew across it,,using one paw to hold one end of the chew against the floor so that the free end is raised and easily available for him to chew,,he has never been shown this behaviour and i am stunned by his cleverness every time he does it,i am certain this is true tool usage,,,he can also fetch several of his toys when told by name which one to fetch,,he will also take things to his bed when told to,,and take things outside when told to…
Linda says
My six-year-old tuxedo cat, “Fred”, puts a plastic ring into his water dish every time I fill it. It’s one of those rings that come off a jar when you open it, and I gave it to him to play with. I couldn’t understand why he would do this–I had to take it out every time I filled it. Then it occurred to me– with the ring floating in the water, he can tell where the water level is, and not dunk his nose in it.
greg b says
We have two bichons– a brother and sister from the same litter. Despite being so genetically similar, they seem to think and process things very differently. Teddy, the male, is kind of dopey, likes to be coddled, and loves to interact with people, other dogs, and toys. Molly, the female, is less interested in interaction, has a strong independent streak, and seems to be smarter than her brother– when it comes to simple problem solving, she often takes matters into her own hands, while her brother will quickly defer to people for assistance.
The tool I believe I have seen Molly use is a white, fluffy squeaky-toy shaped like a doll (Teddy’s favorite toy). At the time in question, Teddy was sitting in Molly’s favorite spot (on top of a large throw pillow on our sofa). She jumped onto the sofa, obviously going for the spot, but Teddy wouldn’t move. Next, I saw her look down to the floor where the doll was. She jumped down, grabbed the doll in her mouth, and turned back to look at Teddy, like she wanted to play. When he saw she had his favorite toy, he jumped down quickly to reclaim it. As soon as he moved she relinquished the doll, and took back the now vacant spot on the sofa.
It’s a bit unorthodox to call the doll a tool, but I am 100% convinced she used the doll (knowing her brother’s weakness for it) in order to get to her favorite spot. It was like watching an older kid swindle a younger kid out of something valuable by making a bad bargain with them.
I’ve only observed this behavior once or twice in the three years we’ve had the dogs, but I don’t think it’s a fluke. Molly has a similar trick which she sometimes tries to use on my Mom. In the morning, when my Mom is drinking coffee (my dogs love coffee) Molly will sometimes run quickly to the back door like she needs to go outside. When my mom gets up to let her out (leaving her cup on the coffee table), Molly will then run back into the living room to get a few licks of coffee before anyone can stop her. There is no object being manipulated in this scenario, but I think the underlying principle is the same.
greg b says
also, i’ve heard there are stray dogs in Moscow who have learned to use the subway to get from place to place. i don’t know if that’s tool use, but it’s pretty awesome.
Matt Greenberg says
My 4 mos. Old Hava-Tzu used a tool: he used one of his long thin toys to get under a very low couch and dislodge a ball that was stuck there. Amazing!
J. Goldweber says
My inlaws have a Airedale Terrier that uses a frisbee or larger ball to push another ball across the deck floor. The dog was not taught this but picked it up on his own and will play for hours on the deck by himself pushing a ball around with his frisbee. I thought the use of the tools was a fairly uncommon thing in quadrupeds? Very unique I can send video if required!
Esoteric says
You know how a lot of breeds of dogs roll onto their back and roll around, mouth open, tongue lolling out?
My parents have a Lab, a very smart lab, and he’s taken to dropping his tennis ball where he’s about to roll around, then he rolls around on it, moving it up and down his back.
Pretty hilarious, and a pretty clear example of him discovering on his own the unexpected use of an object for something other than it’s intended purpose, for his benefit.
Andres says
I have an eight-month labradoodle who loves to fetch. Sometimes, when we’re tired and we don’t have the energy to play the game, he puts his tennis ball (or whatever thing he wants to fetch) on his bed then shakes the bed until the ball goes flying out. He then chases the ball and repeats the same thing until he gets tired. =) Does this count?
Jay says
I’ve got a male beagle who I suspect is very intelligent. Today, I put him in his pen because it was raining (he hates it in the pen), and when I went out a few minutes later, he had wedged one of his food bowls into the gate so that if he forced it open slightly, the dish would keep it from closing again. It seemed like very intentional tool use to me. I’d be interested in building a test for him to see what he can do, but I’ve never seen tool / problem-solving experiments designed for dogs, and I wouldn’t know where to start.
Sharon says
I just witnessed my cat do something I have never seen before. That is why I Googled this topic. He was playing with a cloth toy and suddenly decided it was time to take a bath. So he licked the toy and then rubbed his face on it. Does using a cloth toy like a wash cloth count as a cat using a tool?
ken says
Check out this cat using tools :
Ella says
My dog used the laces of sneakers to hold his busy bone in place. Sometimes he used his paws placed together but lately i guess he realized that if he places it in the web of laces that holds his busy bone better and gets a better gnaw job! Love my baby!
Maggie says
My dog, a 5 year old female Alsatian/Yugoslav Shepherd X, gets small stones embedded in between her toes (at a Croatian beach we go to regularly). She finds a larger stone, holds it in her teeth, and uses it to push those small stones out.
Mark says
My dog, a small mix breed found on the street in Costa Rica, regularly finds a small stone and uses it to groom her fur. She holds it between her teeth as a sort of comb.
She especially grooms her feet.
Lynne says
My Ozzie, 1/2 mini-schnauzer & combo of 5 other breeds (DNA test) just got a long deer antler to chew on. He has a stuffed throw toy shaped like a 3 prong boomerang that he puts his front paws on for some extra height and leans the antler onto one of the prongs and gnaws away on it. He has also started using it to chew on other bones as well. He thought of this all on his own!
Rob says
My cairn terrier Lucy, spends much of her day with my wife in her home office. She keeps the door closed, but not latched to the door jamb. Lucy uses her nose to work the door open when she wants out, but it’s a lot of work for her since there is barely enough for her to get a hold of, and it sometimes results in her shutting the door all the way until it ‘clicks’.
She recently started placing a small rawhide twist up against the door jamb so that it can’t be closed all the way, leaving her about inches to stick her nose in and open the door without risking shutting it all the way.
We didn’t think anything of i figuring that she just got bored with it by the time she got to the door way, but she has been doing this consistently on a daily basis!
tom says
Maltese moved box from another part of room up to baby gate in doorframe. He then jumped on box then over baby gate to get to where my wife was watching TV. I think this is definite “tool use”.
David says
My Cavalier King Charles Spaniel picks up a small pebble in her mouth and uses it to groom, or ‘comb’ her paws, usually after a walk, when there is likely to be some grit or dirt between the pads on her feet. I have often wondered if there are other examples of dogs using tools like this.
Darlene says
My dog finds a small pebble she prefers lava type pebble (decorative rock) using her front teeth she rolls it around the top part of her front legs between her body and paws … as if she rubbing herself with it. I am not sure what she is doing but she does it for about 5-10 minutes several times a day.
She is small (30 lb.) sheltie looking mix.
Lynda says
I’d never heard before of dogs using pebbles for grooming, but there seem to be lots of examples. Very cool. My dog does open the sliding door with his teeth, but unfortunately doesn’t close it. I have heard of a horse that opened its stall door, got out and wreaked havoc, then went back in and shut the door.
My cat has generalized the concept of hands (as something to pet him), sometimes trying to get the dog to use his paws on him. This cat also opens patio doors with lever handles, checking first to see if the door is locked and only keeping on if the lever moves. He tries to open door knobs, but unlike some of the cats in YouTube videos, hasn’t mastered that trick. (This is in response to the amazing video Ken linked to.)
My most surprising tool user is my horse, Kani:
David says
OK – here is a video of my dog using a pebble as a tool to groom its paws. Right at the beginning, she picks up a small pebble and, while you don’t see it in her mouth, you can hear her crunching it and getting it in position between her teeth. At the end of the video she swallows the first pebble (my fault for disturbing her), picks up another and starts again.
Elizabeth says
My dog also uses a rock to itch! She’s a habitual licker, and uses stones to give her more scratching power, it seems. She picks up a nice pointy pebble, places it on her tongue, licks and licks. Put it back down when she’s done. Then when she wants to lick some more, she picks it back up and repeats! I find this habit quite amazing, as she obviously figured out doing it all on her own, and I, as well, had never seen a dog truly use a tool on its own. I’m not sure how else to classify it, besides tool use. (She IS one crazy smart dog, in every other way, as well.) She is a mutt… probably a pitty/lab mix.
Mary says
My dog definitely uses a tool. If she’s at the back door and we don’t let her in, she gets her branch, about a 2″ diameter by 18″-24″ long, and bangs it on the door to make sure she has our attention. It’s a glass door, so it makes a loud noise, meeting her goal. She’s a small dog (schipperke), but I wonder whether she could actually break the glass.
Don Nardo says
I have a yellow lab named Daisy who is presently a bit more than 9 months old. As early as 5 months old, she would take a bone she was chewing and insert it into the opening in a toy about 6 inches in diameter and shaped like a series of 4 or 5 rings glued together so that the rings are like lines of longitude on a globe. Somehow, she figured out that doing this allowed her to brace the bone much better than is possible when she holds it between her paws. She has done this, without any coaching from me, at least 4 or 5 times a week ever since, and she will typically chew the bone that way for roughly 5 to 15 minutes at a time before getting bored with the bone and moving on to some other activity. She has occasionally displayed the same sort of tool-use with 2 or 3 other toys that have openings or slots in which she can insert one end of her bone. She has shown all sorts of other indications of high intelligence as well. For instance, she learns new commands and words extremely quickly compared to other dogs I’ve had. It took me fewer than 5 minutes to teach her to crawl on her belly up to 10 feet or more to get a treat or toy, and I taught her the names of all the rooms in the house in a total of about 2 hours (broken up into a series of roughly 10-minute sessions over the course of 4 days). Ever since, all I have to say is “There’s a treat in the kitchen, go get it!” or “Go to the bedroom and get up on the bed,” and she does it faithfully, with an error rate of only about 1 in 8 times. I have just started to teach her to count, so she has not gone very far with that yet. But I already sense that she understands the concept of numbers, or at least that there are 2 or 3 treats or balls or leashes or whatever. What I’m aiming at is to get her to count, using her paw, on command. I will provide an update on this effort in the near future, hopefully. Best, Don
HK says
I know this is a super old post now but I have a new (older — 10 month, so teenage) kitten who pretty clearly understands tool use. He has a circular scratching post that he’ll drag places, get up on, and use to jump to higher places, for example, and he tried to use the same rod I use to get toys out from under the bookcase — he knocked a lid under (his favorite toy), then grabbed the rod in his mouth and swished it. (He didn’t have fine enough control to USE it, and came meowing to me to get it out instead, but he definitely tried to use the same tool he’d seen me using.)
arden says
Dogs can use tools without being trained to use them if they got the right motiviation.
A couple years back we had a basket of pet treats we stored on top of our refrigerator. Well our dog Precious scooted her water bowl over. (She had one of those automatic fill ones). She the jumped on top of it. The jumped onto our freezer which was about 4 feet high. My husband sat there watching her intently trying to figure out what she was doing. He grabbed the samera and snapped a pboto of it. She then once on top of the freezer put her paws on the top of the refrigerator and knocked the treats down to the floor. Where her and our other dog started eating them. That is when my husband intervened.
So yes I do think dogs can use tools even if not trained
Peter says
My dog Echo, a black German Shepherd, has always been fond of the various soccer balls in our backyard. She has regularly carried a soccer ball around in her mouth, using it to either stop or cushion the impact of another ball thrown or rolled her way. She also uses the soccer ball to knock frisbees out of the air.
This past November, my wife was bleeding off the spigots around the house to prevent frozen pipes during the coming winter. Somehow, Echo got out our fenced yard the very next day, went over to our neighbor’s house, and opened one of her house’s water spigots. Our neighbor heard the sound of rushing water, went outside to see what was going on, and saw Echo standing next to the rushing water.
David says
One of our two dogs, a female Dalmatian-Staffordshire mix, has learned to flip a flying disk ten or 20 feet into the air so she can catch it. These disks are springy and she has learned to exploit this quality. She will allow me to throw the disk a few times and try to catch it in midair, but then she takes over and excludes me from the game. She also delights in taking the other end of her leash and walking herself. It seems to me that she is communicating that we humans aren’t so much cleverer as we imagine.
Our other dog is a male Malinois. He is much more social with humans, constantly approaching strangers in a friendly way. Despite his considerable social intelligence, he shows no particular aptitude for manipulating inanimate objects in a manner that suggests tool use.
Kevin says
Just saw this excellent example of a dog using a tool on YouTube. http://youtu.be/-UPZ1zX8V9k
carrie smith says
my almost 7 year old chihuahua mix, Biscuit uses tool. He has allergies in the summer and his feet get really itchy. He chews and licks them all the time. We use special shampoo, athletes foot spray,benadryl, claritin, etc. They help, but nothing stops the itching. So, he goes out to the concrete patio thats cracking and breaking apart and carefully selects a flat rock. He then holds it between his teeth and uses it to scratch in between his toes. he will even bring them inside and hide them for later.
ACheetham says
Regarding cats, my three year old bengal cross, knocks my perfume off my bedside table to wake me up in the morning to let her out/feed her. Not sure if this counts as using tools but technically she has worked out that if she pushes something off my bedside table it creates a noise and therefore wakes me up, a sure sign of logic?
Bill says
I read this definition of using a tool on Wikipedia, “the use of physical objects other than the animal’s own body or appendages as a means to extend the physical influence realized by the animal”
I have a Pomeranian who is almost two, very active, and loves to play fetch. When I’m too busy to play with him he gets his nylabone, puts it on his bed, then grabs the bed and violently shakes it till the bone flies away. He runs and gets it, puts it back on the bed and does it again and again till he’s exhausted.
If the bone flies under a piece of furniture he barks. If I don’t respond he comes and gets me, then runs back to the spot where the bone disappeared and barks till I get it for him.
I believe that using the bed to throw the toy qualifies as the use of a tool. I have video of him doing it.
Brad says
This dog provides another example of moving objects to use them for climbing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ym0rxisOpw
nik says
I just watched my girlfriends cat use a toy mouse like a sponge to clean herself. She licked it and rubbed it on her face.
William Thomas says
I have a 4 year old Goldendoodle named Sam. His brother Jake came to visit last week. Whenever Jake sits near me my dog Sam gets very jealous. I was petting Jake and Sam decided he had to move him away from me. Sam went and got a rubber toy and dropped it a few feet away from Jake and me, so Jake could see it. Jake got up to pick up the toy and Sam sat in his place in front of me. To me it seemed Sam used a tool and planned manipulation to move Jake away. I know he’s a smart dog but I have never seen a dog with planning skills like this.
Amrita says
i found this thread after i googled Do cats use tools? The cat that visits me – actually lives across the way – definitely uses a tool, that she figured out all by herself. When my patio door is ajar, but not open enough for her to get out, she reaches her paw through the opening to touch the mat that is there, and then keeps pulling on the mat until it piles up and pushes the door wider. Then she walks over the bunched up mat and out the door. i have watched her do this many times, and am always amazed. Do you think this is as unusual and remarkable as i do? And isn’t it certainly a case of using a tool? Thanks.
Chris says
My small elderly English Staffy dog will drag a cushion from where ever it is located within the room to use as a stool to help her jump up onto the sofa. If I move it, next time she needs it she will drag it back into a perfect position to assist her with the jump up onto the sofa.
She’s only started doing this recently. She’s always been a very smart dog but I was shocked to see tool use. Hence I started searching on the web and found this site.
Todd says
My dog, a basset hound, uses 2 tools.
One tool is the floor. When I give her a marrow bone, she will pick up the bone in her mouth, and then fling it to the floor with some force, to try and jar out the marrow in the center. She will do this over and over until she gets the desired result.
The next tool that she uses is her metal dog bowl. If she’s hungry or thirsty, she will start knocking the bowl around to get my attention. She’ll make a noise, and then wait to see if I respond. If I don’t, then she will repeat the behavior. Then, one day last week, I decided to get down on all fours and knock the bowl around. As soon as she heard that bowl clanging, she came hurriedly over and nuzzled her head against mine. I’ve repeated this behavior more than once, so it wasn’t a fluke.
Neither one of these was taught. My dog taught herself how to manipulate other objects to get a desired outcome. That’s the basic definition of tool use. So, yes, dogs can use tools.
Dann Barbery says
Different tools have different purposes. Just like us, animals want to accomplish their goals too, as simple as they may be compared to the various goals that we have. It’s fascinating to know that animals make use of what’s available to them to ensure they get to accomplish what they are trying to do. Thanks for this nice and interesting post.
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Cheap Mobile Dog Washing Service in Adelaide
Ginger says
My German Shepherd female has a favorite deflated ball, and it drives her batty when the younger German Shepherd male parades it around. You can see the gears moving in her head as she contemplates how to get it. She will find another toy, usually another ball just like hers or a rope that he likes and she will wave it in front of him, parade it around him, anything to get his attention. Once she has his attention, he usually drops the ball she wants, and she will immediately drop her decoy toy and race to get her favorite deflated ball. If it falls, she will pick up the old toy and do the same thing again until it works. She is very deliberate and calculated about it, and there is no question that she has formed a plan to deceive the pup by using the other toys as tools to get what she is really after. Her plan is always successful, though sometimes it takes more than one try to actually achieve her goal.
Mez says
There are stray dogs in russia that have learned to use the train as well as other things.
There was a cat in uk who used to travel the bus to the local aquarium on a regular basis. Her owner didn’t know she was going there. It also went a couple of other places. I think it died a couple of years ago.
Matt says
My dog just had a “cone of shame” put on because of a licking issue. Not 10 seconds later, she walked backwards under a chair and popped it right off. Walking backwards through the chair is very unusual behavior and she obviously knew that the chair would pull the cone off, making the chair a rudimentary tool. I was intrigued by this and went looking for other examples.
Desiree says
Patricia, my Australian Shepherd will take the cats favorite toy (a belt from a robe, a string like object) in her mouth and use it in the same way I do, to entice the cat to play. It’s interesting because she’s learned how the cat likes to play with this object, and though the dog herself does not enjoy chasing the toy, she does enjoy playing with the cat, so she uses the toy to accomplish that goal. I consider this tool use, essentially, though she didn’t make the tool. What do you think? I’ll try to get it on video.
Tom says
My neighbor’s pit bull always comes over to hang out with me when I’m working outside. This week I noticed that he had broken off a short piece from a branch lying on the ground from a dead tree. I was totally surprised to see him with the stick sideways in his mouth, only poking out one side, and he was using it to scratch his back at the base of his tail and the upper part of a back leg.
I was curious and after playing with him some, I gave him another long stick off the tree (about 18 inches long, just over an inch diameter). He chewed it and broke off a shorter piece (about 8 inches), held it on the ground vertically between his feet and gnawed and licked the end of it for a minute before taking it in his mouth with just one end sticking out the right side (took a few tries to get it just right). Then, just as before, he reached around and started scratching his back and hind quarters with it. I’d never seen a dog do this before!
Pat Cresswell says
A large oval raffia table mat is under my dresser. On at least three occasions Shandy my terrier mix, has put her paw under the dresser and rotated the mat outwards and to the right in order to move a dog treat within her reach.
I will try and set it up so I can get a video if I can.
Tera Miller says
My 15 week old German Shepherd/Siberian Husky puppy uses tools. While playing with her favorite ball as she pushed it around with her nose, she seemed frustrated that it wouldn’t go in a direction she wanted. She them picked up her favorite red rubber bone in her mouth and used either end to steer and bump the ball in the direction she wanted. She then proceeded to try the procedure with several different toys to see how well it worked. Every time she receives a new toy, she tries it out with the ball to see how well it works. She makes up games for herself as well. She’s been hiding her bone in various places since she was first brought home. I watched again to day as she played pretend, and hid her bone in different places. She would leave the room and come back and pretend to find it. Needless to say, she’s amazing us every day!
Bill says
My Walker Coonhound uses trees to get to raccoons. He uses the floor to get treats out of a toy. He crushes the treat inside the toy then slams the toy to the ground so the crushed treat comes out.
Dogbackscratcher says
My dog will drag out this rubber toy that’s got some rubber spikes on it when he’s shedding, and will roll around on top of it to try to scratch out the probably itchy fur. He’s done this with no prompting from me or mine, but I’m not totally sure if this counts as tool use.
TL says
I just watched my sister’s Jack Russell use a tool. While playing fetch with him and his ball, the ball would get slobbery after several times of him fetching it, which made the ball hard to catch in mid-air. I noticed he took the ball and laid it in the grass and began to wallow on it. I had no idea what he was doing and thought it was the usual dog rolling in the grass thing. But after a few more throws when the ball had become slippery from slobber again, he laid it down and then this time he picked up a fallen twig with leaves on it and began to attempt to wipe the ball with the leaves. I was amazed! Of course, this tool was not really suited for the job but it definitely was the process of trying to use an external object to manipulate his environment.
Ettina says
My dog was able to learn to ring a bell to ask me to open a door, with training. She also figured out without training that she could bring her food or water dish to me to ask me to fill them, as well as bringing toys to ask me to play fetch or tug of war.
Susan says
My dog, American Bully, gets a shoe or slipper to put the end of his bone chew toy to hold it steady. The bone is held steady while he chews on it’s end instead of sliding away on the wood floor.
dana rock says
If my cat, Kitty, wants a treat and knows that we will probably deem it unworthy of a trip to the kitchen she tricks us into doing so with a few different methods.
Method 1- stand in the corner meowing and looking upwards as if something could be a danger to us. Once we become alarmed to her strange behavior and quickly head in her direction she gets this expression of “it worked, time for part B!!” and bolts past us into the kitchen to stand in front of the fridge.
Method 2 (used if she thinks has played out method 1) – Run around playing and acting very cute and “fun” and if we still dont get up she lays next to her favorite ‘string on a stick’ toy and gently meows for us to play with her. Once her attempt to tug at our heartstrings gets us up and heading her way.. again, she bolts past to the fridge.
Method 3 (used randomly) – this one is a bit more sinister… If we flat out ignore her presence in front of the fridge (studio in NYC) she will then take to either beating up the other cat until she gets us to the fridge, or she commandeers the other cats personal property as if it were the freaking Alamo (actually it’s his cat tower). Seriously, she looks at me dead in the eye, walks over to it, climbs to the second tier and then sits there looking at me with an almost smug expression. Its freaking brilliant.
This one i doubt a single sole will believe … but one day Kitty and I were in my workshop building furniture…and on the floor next to Kitty were three haphazardly placed long screws and three rubber bands (I swear on the Bible this happened!) The next time I turned to speak to her, one screw had been placed in the center of each rubber band directly in front of her!! She just sat there looking at me as my mouth fell open. I still have the picture from 2 years ago which my mouth STILL drops when I look at it. These events actually changed my entire outlook on the animal kingdom and I now spend my time trying to educate pet owners of the intelligence and awareness of their furry friends… not to mention.. I now devote all of my time to designing products that give them back their independence and freedom that they deserve and to which I am now convinced they know they dont have.
Fred says
My dog, a boarder collie mix, will use water from her water dish to clean out her food bowl throughout the day. Just like I use water and soap to clean up dishes.
Marc says
Interested in a 3 minute video of a dog grooming her paws with small pebbles in her mouth?
Paul says
I believe this would be use of a tool, our chocolate lab lays on her back, drops her tennis ball, then shimmies over to it and positions it under her back to give herself a back massage!
Peter Moran says
My German Shepherd uses a soccer ball to roll other balls along the ground and to knock airborne things (balls or frisbees) out of the air.
She also, after watching my wife drain the outside faucets in preparation for Winter, got out of our fenced yard, went over to our neighbor’s house, and turned on their outside faucet.
Melissa hammaker says
My dog uses the wall as a tool. When he’s trying to get a toy into his mouth (and usually more than one), he presses the toy against the wall to try to maneuver a better grip on it or to try to fit multiple toys into his mouth
Rosalind says
I just saw my cat do something amazing. She’s in a large cage to keep her immobile while her leg heals. She was licking on one of the vertical metal poles on the cage. I couldn’t figure out why she was doing this.
Then she started rubbing her face against the wet pole. She was using the wet pole to wash something off of her face that she could not reach with her tongue or a wet paw. In other words, she used the bar of the cage as a “wash cloth” (i.e. tool) to wash her face.
Michael R Davis says
My dog throws his bones against concrete or tile to fracture pieces of bones which he observes and eats; He also carries out a piece of shag carpeting to the outside patio where he pulls my chair out and sits on the carpet after placing it on the seat of the chair!
G. John Marmet says
a recent facebook “movie” of various dogs interacting with frisbees, showed a dog hold a frisbee in this mouth, then desiring to move a ball without dropping the frisbee, ben down and used the frisbee to push the ball along a deck. Another example in the same sequence showed a dog on a deck covered with snow, imitate his master who was shoveling the deck, by holding a frisbee in his mouth, bending over and pushing the snow off the deck. Sounds like tool use to me.
Daria says
My mom’s dog puts her ball under her chair. When my mom can’t reach it she uses her cane to knock it out. Her dog observed her and when the ball is stuck the dog now gets the cane to tey to knock it out from under the chair. The dog, Gypsy, understands a lot of human language, even more than my Border Collie.
Geo says
When eating slippery food, my cat uses the mat so that the food doesn’t slip around. It’s not because the mat is her ‘eating place’. She doesn’t usually eat on the mat. She only brings her food to the mat after she tried (and failed) eating it off the floor for a while.
Trisha says
Wow, impressive kitty!
samk says
My dog finds a small pebble she prefers lava type pebble (decorative rock) using her front teeth she rolls it around the top part of her front legs between her body and paws … as if she rubbing herself with it. I am not sure what she is doing but she does it for about 5-10 minutes several times a day.
Jasmyn Kim says
My family dog, Chui, has been known to seek out small jagged rocks in the backyard, carry it in her mouth to the pavement, drop it, lay on it (on her back/belly up) and twist and wiggle her body. If the rock is unsuitable (which seems to be if it rolls around too much), she will seek out another rock until she finds one that is suitable (has a flat edge that causes it to stay stationary). It seems she is using it as a tool to scratch her back. We’ve had her since puppyhood, so we know that no human nor dog has influenced this behavior. We started noticing it when she was about 3 years old. Is this tool use?
Jeannette says
I have a cat who hooks her claw into the stretchy band that is to hold the arm chair cover on at the bottom. She then licks the stretchy band and uses it to wash her face like a paw. She also seems to be cleaning her teeth with it. She is a 12 year old seal point rag doll who just started doing this as the chair cover is new. I have seen her do this 3 times now and my husband has seen her do it once. I am now trying to record it.
Kirk Hubinger says
We have a cat named Dawn who created a ramp out of a towel, which led to the top of the cat box. She did this just prior to taking her babies to the cat box for the first time in 2017.
We removed the ramp the first time she did this and within 10 minutes, we watched her take a new clean towel out of storage and recreate the ramp in the exact same spot, carefully using her mouth and paws to tuck it over the side of the box so it would be strong enough to hold her babies as they walked up the ramp.
The cat box in question had higher sides than on most cat boxes. Dawn apparently saw that this was going to be a problem for her babies getting into it during their upcoming cat box training and devised the towel-ramp as a solution. And the ramp worked as intended.
Trisha says
Kirk: OMG. That’s all I can say. I hope you got photographs!
Amy says
Does a cat flinging a plastic treat container down a flight of stairs (after getting them out of a closed drawer) count as tool use in an attempt to get the container open? If the first stair case does yield the goodies, the container is then pushed to the staircase to the basement to repeat the process.
Rebecca says
This is way after your post, but we had a Alaskan husky Australian sheperd mix that would push a step stool to a counter with his front legs and head to climb up and look for snacks. He passed away years ago.
Jade Delafraye says
Researching this as our working golden retriever is displaying a very interesting behaviour. She’s obsessed with playing tug. If we refuse to play, she will take her rope toy, wrap it around our foot/leg depending on how we’re sat, and reach lower to pull both ends at once. She uses our still foot to create something to hold the rope and allow her to pull on it. I might be reading too much into it, but I thought that was a clever thing to do in terms of using things to achieve her goal
Darren Hendricks says
My 1 year old Lab mix Honey will put favorite ball on a pillow. She then whips the pillow quickly out which launches the ball. This is not something I taught her. In fact it was something I tried to break her of after the 3rd time she accidentally spilled an ash tray on the end table. I swear if she had opposable thumbs she’d have made a catapult by now.
Faizanali says
Researching this as our working golden retriever is displaying a very interesting behaviour. She’s obsessed with playing tug. If we refuse to play, she will take her rope toy, wrap it around our foot/leg depending on how we’re sat, and reach lower to pull both ends at once. She uses our still foot to create something to hold the rope and allow her to pull on it. I might be reading too much into it, but I thought that was a clever thing to do in terms of using things to achieve her goal