Had a 3/4 wolf 1/4 Shepard mix. Our games were complex. Every now and then I’d “cheat.” She’d just sit and glare at me until I “uncheated.” But she’d do the same thing, and I’d glare until she tucked tail and “uncheated.” Was actually part of the rules. BTW not all wolf mixes are mean - she was VERY tolerant of ear and tail tugging by friends’ kids. And not all are skittish. Only time she was scary mean was when a bad dog threatened me. Bad move. If not for me calling my wolf off, that dog would have been DEAD.
I’m convinced that a lot of this was a result of all the time I spent with her. That dog was as smart as a 6 to 7 year old. Easily.
I miss her.
A friend of mine had a wolf pack.
When her bitch had pups, she took the human kids into the den she’d dug in the backyard, too.
When the little boy would crawl out and climb on top of the den mound, the bitch would go and fetch him back.
[he suffered that but drew the line at her attempts to make him nurse]
The neighbors called child services on the woman but after they came out, they were totally amazed and on board with it all.
They told the nosy neighbor to shut up.
She never spent a second worrying where her kids were or if they were okay.
Her kids were literally raised by wolves and they’re really great adults now.
dogs, cats and rabbits have average intelligence levels of between 5-7 year olds. so your estimate is right on.
some of course are far smarter. buddy of mine had a dog that he said knew about 900 words, could understand complete sentences. i loved that dog.