This is Luffy.

Luffy is a border collie/golden retriever mix. His mother (the border collie) is a working ranch dog, while his father is a gun dog. I often tell people that he inherited his mother’s IQ (BCs are considered the most intelligent breed by many) and his father’s EQ (GRs are among the most loving and empathetic breeds around). He is now five years old.

When I first brought Luffy home, he was six weeks old. He was weaned but not yet housetrained (6 weeks is very young). I had a 3-story townhome with the carpeted bedrooms on the 3rd floor. Because puppies pee and poo, I decided to sleep on the couch in the living room, which had hardwood floors, for the first few weeks; Luffy slept on a dog bed next to me. Each morning, I would wake up and - with paper towel squares in hand - crawl along the floor looking for pee puddles; I’d then take a paper towel and place it atop the puddle to soak it up (then return with a mop to clean up the residue). Luffy would follow me around while I did this. One day, as I was placing a paper towel down, Luffy positioned himself in front of me, looked me straight in the eye, and peed. Of course, I couldn’t get upset with a little puppy, but I was a bit annoyed - “Really? Really??” Luffy then looked at me and did something for the first time that he’s done several times since - he rubbed his muzzle with his paw out of guilt and shame. He then - at 8 weeks old - walked over to the pile of dry paper towels I had next to me, picked one up in his mouth, and dragged it to the puddle he’d just made - placing it awkwardly atop it. He sat down and looked at me with pride, wagging his little tail.

Again, he was 8 weeks old.

Since then, this dog has just amazed me with his intelligence. At 4–1/2 months, he pulled his leash free from my hand at the park in order to run to stop a 2yo human child from wandering into the lake while his mother was busy with the child’s brothers.

When he was 8 months old, our next door neighbor got a new puppy - about 4 months old. When Luffy met Stella, he immediately took a liking to her. He picked up her leash with his mouth and led her on a tour of the block. (We followed close behind to be sure nothing bad happened.) He stopped to show her all the best places to sniff and pee - and our neighbor Tim’s place, as Tim would always have the best bacon!

At about the age of 1, I left him in the (fenced-in) front yard while I went out to run an errand. When I returned and didn’t see him, I freaked out. I knew that he could open doors, but the front door was closed. I rushed around the block looking for him - thinking he must’ve dug out or jumped over or something. I couldn’t find him! I rushed home to gather some neighbors, entering the house only to grab water. Luffy was sitting calmly on the couch upstairs; he had let himself in the house (door was unlocked) and closed it behind himself.

He is a minimally certified therapy [comfort and support] dog - not for me; he works with kids with cancer in various hospitals to provide comfort and support. He is also a supplemental search-and-rescue dog.

The other dog in this photo is his younger brother, Wookie. He’s a Siberian Husky (2 years old).

Wookie’s a pretty smart dog too, but not as smart as Luffy. (That’s not to say he’s worth any less; he’s a wonderful companion.) When I first found Wooks (as we call him) on the street a year ago, he was in bad shape - wounded, abused, heartworm positive and cryptorchid (and unneutered). After getting him healthy, I started training him more intensely. On the first day, I started with “sit”; Luffy was hanging out with us.

Me: Sit, Wookie.
Wookie: <nothing, but Luffy sits>
Me: Sit, Wookie.
Wookie: <nothing>
Me: Sit, Wookie.
Wookie: <nothing>
Then… Luffy reaches out a paw and pats his brother on the rump, after which Wooks sat down.

Since then, Luffy has helped me to train his brother (successfully).

I can fill this page with stories about Luffy’s intelligence, but I’ll just finish by saying that I have a very strong affiliation with dogs - I’ve had many (fosters and my own); I volunteer and donate at our city shelter; and I tend to associate myself with people with dogs - and I love all dogs. But, I have never come across another dog with Luffy’s intelligence.

People often ask me how I trained him so well. My response: I gave him food and water - and a lot of love. The rest has been all him.