Irish Terrier

Einstein just has that look: full of wisdom; kind of professorial. I've always considered him to be intelligent and he has always had the look to match. He also has always acted mature, even as a baby. When he was a puppy, he'd watch the other pups play and horse around physically, but he would only get involved to break up a game that was getting out of hand. Otherwise, he preferred to sit on the sidelines and observe.

When we went through obedience training, he would usually hesitate before responding, as if he was giving it deep thought and consideration before he would obey. It's as though he wanted to understand the reason behind the command. Once he got it, I never had to spend time drilling or repeating a command. Conversely, if a command seemed unreasonable or silly to him, he just simply would lie down and refuse to do it, uninterested in participating in futile human games.

Einstein seems to have an unusual thinking ability that I haven't seen in many dogs, and that's what makes him so special: not just the look of wisdom, but actual intelligence. For example, while most dogs will run out into the street to chase a ball or a squirrel with no consideration of the danger, Einstein will pause and stand at the curb. He'll take the time to study the situation; once he's figured it out, he watches the cars pass and waits until it's safe. I know service dogs are trained for such situations but Einstein has done this without any special training. It's as though he has the innate sense to think first and then act. This may not be the norm with this breed, but it is the norm with our Einstein.