No matter how much we know about dogs, those cute canine critters always find a way to surprise us, humans. They’re a lot smarter than we give them credit.
After all, dogs have spent so much time along with people that it was only a matter of time before they pick up on our behavior, such as mimicking our voices, emoting, and making financial transactions in exchange for treats.
Negro, a black Labrador in Colombia, uses leaves from a tree to “pay” for cookies.
On the campus of the Diversified Technical Education Institute Monterrey Casanare, Negro acts as both the guardian dog watching over the students and as a mascot for the campus.
The black dog has no owner, but he is cared for by the school’s faculty and students, given food, shelter, and plenty of scratches and belly rubs. Over the years, Negro observed students going to the campus store and paying for food.
While the students would give Negro food to eat, he decided to take matters into his own paws.
The clever canine snagged a leaf from a tree, as green as a dollar bill, and with a wagging tail, he brought it to the store’s counter.
As silly as it looked, it became clear to the employees that Negro used his newfound currency to purchase some cookies. It looks like this dog learned a new trick from his human classmates.
“He comes for cookies every day,” said store attendant Gladys Barreto, “He always pays with a leaf. It is his daily purchase.” It looks like the saying, “money doesn’t grow on trees,” doesn’t apply to Negro. Luckily, the store employees make sure not to let all that greed get to the dog’s head.
They make sure to limit the number of cookies not to inflate the leaf’s “price” or Negro’s waist.
Of course, they can’t just let him strip every tree bare and buy a shipping container’s worth of cookies. Negro is just one instance of dogs demonstrating a surprising amount of intelligence. And given that colleges provide plenty of education, it seems that it isn’t just the students who are learning new things.
If you’ve got a soft spot in your heart for dogs, then take a few minutes to check out the video above.
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