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Without a doubt, the african grey parrot is the smartest of the common household pets. Do a little research on Alex, and you'll likely come to the same conclusion.
I read Irene Pepperberg's book, Alex & Me, about Alex. Truly amazing. I recommend it to anybody who loves animals.
Call me crazy, but I think dogs are pretty dumb... and this is coming from a dog owner. I also have 3 cats, and they are way smarter than my dog! Cats are perfectly capable of doing tricks, but they have enough intelligence to say "nah, I don't wanna do that." Seriously, try training a cat sometime, and you'll learn they easily grasp the concepts - and make a conscious decision not to oblige, unless it's a really food-driven cat.
JMO, but I'd never call my dog smart, despite his ability to do many tricks on command. I've seen my dog run towards a moving car, for example, whereas most cats have the brains to run away. And why does he still race & slip on the hardwood steps, when my cats learned in a matter of days (after moving from a carpeted home) to take them slowly? Doesn't that tell you something?
Without a doubt, the african grey parrot is the smartest of the common household pets. Do a little research on Alex, and you'll likely come to the same conclusion.
I owned an African Gray for about six months, and unfortunately had to re-home her due to severe allergies (never knew I was allergic until getting one). She was incredibly smart, almost to the point of being freakish... at less than a year old she could say around 10-15 words, and mock just about any sound she heard.
They also have a deeper level of intelligence than people realize, as they can associate words & sounds with situations. For example, every time my phone rang she'd say "Hello??" - and would tell herself to "Shut up, Maggie!" whenever she was in a hyper/loud mood. She even potty-trained herself, by saying "Oh, go poopie" whenever she had to go... giving me about 5 seconds to move her back to the cage top. Guess she learned that from my reaction, as I'd say oh poopie when she went on me or the furniture.
Truly amazing animals, and I really was sad that my health required giving her away... she's in a fantastic home though, with my former vet, her family & their menagerie of pets. Apparently she's bonded with the husband, and thinks the world revolves around him.
Parrots, by far. I've had dogs and cats, and I have small birds (conures), but as Swagger said, African Greys are incredibly intelligent. They've been shown to use words in context, which is indicative of higher reasoning.
Heck, my Nanday uses expressions in context. One time when I was wheeling his house into another room, he fell off his perch. When he hit the bottom, he said, "OW, DAMMIT!" (He doesn't say "dammit" any more. He got that from my ex-husband, whom he hasn't seen in several years. Now he just says "ow.") He has a whole vocabulary that lets you know exactly what kind of mood he's in at any given time.
Granted, most animals have body language that does the same thing, but I've gotta go with a pet who can give back subtleties in inflection. My Nanday has four different "hellos"--greeting, telephone answer, desire a kiss, and exasperation. Exasperation is great. He'll say, "Hello [greeting]." If I ignore him, he'll say it again. And again. And then he'll get exasperated and say, "HELLO."
Of course, sometimes he thinks he's a cat, so maybe my theory has a few holes in it...
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Seriously, try training a cat sometime, and you'll learn they easily grasp the concepts - and make a conscious decision not to oblige, unless it's a really food-driven cat.
