When I was in the air force back when we were still flying biplanes, one of the guys would tell me that dogs were smarter than people. If anyone had any doubts, he'd simply ask if they'd ever seen a dog get up earlier than they wanted to in order to go to a job that they hated.
My doubt about this was further alleviated when I read a short story titled "Mr. Edison's Dog," by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. where it was revealed that it was Edison's dog, who finally told Edison what material he needed to use for the filament in his light bulb with the stipulation that Edison must never reveal the source of his inspiration.
If this post or this entire thread should happen to disappear now, it would be because a dog had read it and wanted to keep the above a secret.
Anyhow, I don't have a dog right now, but it always amazes how dogs show unconditional love and are such great listeners. Not only that, but you can tell them anything and you never hear it repeated. Maybe, they share such confidential information with other dogs, though I doubt it because I don't think that consider human emotional challenges to be very interesting especially as it provides no food, won't help them play, or do any of the other things that dogs want and need.