I thought all dogs were smarter than people thought because my first one (Yorkie) was practically a little kid in how he could understand me. I could tell him to go somewhere and he'd do it. He let me know if he needed to pee outside or if he was hungry. Always surprised me how much a dog could understand!
Then I got a new one recently (Goldendoodle) and this little guy is a complete dumbass.
I suspect it may come down to experience though. Yorkie was already about 4 when we got him and only took about a year for me and him to really understand each other. The Doodle we got when he was only a little over a month old and we've had him close to a year but it has been a pain to train. Could also just be down to personality, because he has done some pretty intelligent things that surprised us.
It's cool you guys allow it. I find banning self-promotion is such a stupid rule for a games community. It's cool seeing people make games, too!