You think you know your pet—until they outsmart you again. From sneaky snack heists to pulling off Oscar-worthy performances just to get belly rubs, our furry companions are often far more cunning than we expect. And honestly? It’s both impressive and mildly terrifying.
So, I asked the Bored Panda community to spill the beans: what’s the smartest, sneakiest, or downright evil thing your pet has ever done? From cats who plot like Bond villains to dogs who game the system for extra treats, these stories might just make you rethink who’s really in charge at home.
#1
We use word buzzers with our German Shepherd mix. He now has a vocabulary of about 40 word buzzers (and would have more if I could do a better job of keeping up with making them), but earlier on, when we didn’t have quite as many, he showed us how smart he was…
We live on the 3rd floor and noticed that the top of his crate was flush with the windowsill in our bedroom, so I put a dog bed on top of his crate with a ramp so he could get up there himself. But at the beginning, he was a little wary of the ramp, so I would lift him up there, where he enjoyed surveying the neighborhood.
We have a dog bed in the livingroom, and had a “bed” buzzer for him to reference it. We called the dog bed “bunkbed” so that he wouldn’t be confused when we would reference one or the other, but at this point, I hadn’t made a “bunkbed” buzzer yet.
A couple of weeks later, he pushed “outside” + “bed.” “Outside” meant that he wanted to go outside for a walk, or out on the deck to sun himself (now we have a separate “deck” buzzer). I said, “Buddy, we don’t have a bed outside, I’m sorry.”
The next day, he pushed “outside” + “bed” again, and again, I said, “I don’t know what you want, I’m sorry.”
The following day he pushed “outside” + “bed” again and my husband realized, “I think he wants to go on the bunkbed.” So I asked, “Do you want to go on the bunkbed?” and he perked up and started going towards the bedroom, then paused, waiting for me to go with (to lift him up). So apparently, for him, the bunkbed was the bed where he could look outside.
We now have a separate buzzer for “bunkbed” and he climbs up there by himself.
He has also put together “ice” + “food” for dog ice cream cups.
We have a whole bunch of these kinds of instances. He’s very smart (and sometimes demanding) with his requests!
46points
Benjamin Brogan 2 days ago
My dog does the word buzzers only we don’t have as many (13) so when there’s something he wants and there’s no buzzer for it, he’ll bring it to me or sit and stare at the item, sometimes he’ll come and take me by the hand and lead me to what he wants. But the Coolest thing he does is unbelievable! So I’m a Sleepwalker, he lays on my legs at night to keep me in bed!
19
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#2
I have a Tuxedo cat named Mortimer. He likes to hide and ambush the other cats. We scold him, but sometimes it’s just too hilarious to seriously scold. We have those little cloth cat houses that look like pineapples. He will climb under the padding inside of it, to where it’s pretty obvious that something is in there, but you can’t see him, and then reach out and swat at other cats.
In another instance, we had a plastic see-through tarp lying on the floor. He LOVES getting under blankets to ambush other cats, so he hides under the see-through tarp. I tell him, “Morty, buddy… No cat is going to fall for that.” RIGHT after I say this, along comes Paw Paws, my more ‘robust’ grey cat. He sniffs at the tarp and Morty reaches out and gets him. I’m not sure which is worse, that Mortimer thought it would work, or that it actually did work on Paws.
32points
Chewie Baron 2 days ago
A tuxedo cat called Mortimer? Yeah, he was destined to be evil.
6
#3
Years ago, a starving black kitten showed up in my back yard the day before Halloween. Of course I let him stay, and over the next few days, I was able to befriend him. He had a badly infected left eye that needed treatment, so when he finally let me pet/examine him, I bedded him down in the garage, scheduled a vet appointment ,and gave him as much cat food as he could handle.
He ended up becoming one of my housecats, but still seemed to remember what starvation felt like. If I ever was late with a meal, he would paw at the door that led to the garage. I guess he figured that if he could get in there again, the Infinite Cat Food Fairy would come and bless him, and he could have all the food he wanted!
27points
Stephanie Did It 3 days ago
Thank you for taking him in just before the most dangerous day of the year for black cats. I believe they do remember hardships and their relief. When I hold Henri and squeeze her the way I did for comfort when she had an URI (upper respiratory infection) as a small kitten, she just melts and drools.
16
#4
One of my dogs (sadly now at the Bridge) worked out how to open the fridge by turning his head and gripping the door. He would go in and help himself to whatever was there. He was pretty damned clever.
26points
Cee Cee 2 days ago
Lola my long gone Siamese did this. Tried a couple of things including a child lock. Nope she still got in. Finally drilled through top and into the door. Dropped a 4″ nail. That worked! She knew what she had to do to gain access but no opposable thumbs. Sorry Lola.
8
#5
One day it was really quite windy but Shilo, my Border Collie, still wanted me to go out and throw the frisbee for him. I threw the frisbee into the wind so the wind wouldn’t carry it into the neighbour’s garden. The frisbee went one way and Shilo watched it and then ran about 50 yards in the opposite direction, stopped, turned around, and sat down. I was really wondering what he was doing, but then the frisbee got caught in the wind and was blown back towards us. It flew past me and towards Shilo and when it was nearly above his head he just jumped up and caught it. I got a lesson on how to work smarter, not harder from my Border Collie that day.
25points
Beth Wheeler 2 days ago
LOL
6
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#6
Our golden retriever had a sneaky habit.
She was very well behaved and knew what she was and wasn’t allowed to do.
One of the things she was NOT allowed to do was lay on the couch. She had at least 2 beds or dog cushions for herself on the floor (if the cat didn’t claim one).
However, as soon as she thought everyone left the house she would go lay on the couch. She was smart about it because as soon as someone came home she would quickly and quietly hop off.
We only noticed when we would go sit on the couch almost immediately when getting home and there would be a warm spot.
When she got older she became lazy and wouldn’t vacate the couch quickly enough. So when we came home we would look at her sternly and she would sheepishly slide off.
I still miss her…
24points
Crystalwitch60 3 days ago
Dogs SHULD BE ALLOWED ON THE SOFA AND OUR BEDs They are FAMILY n you don’t make family sleep on the bloody floor !! (I hope ) ! Nothing wrong what so ever wrong with dogs on furniture pfft all mine spanning my 60 yrs sleep on the sofa ,and with me on the bed , as it should be , he’s not being naughty ,he’s being family !,
8
#7
My sweet girl Aiko is actually really well behaved. But there are two things that fit this category and both seem to have the same reason. She hates sharing my attention. I work mostly from home, so after a while she figured out that if she unplugged the modem I stopped paying attention to the computer for a bit. The second one she only does when we are outside taking a walk and I have the audacity to pick up when someone calls me. She barks and doesn’t stop until I hang up the phone. I mean she is not wrong, it’s HER time with me and those people need to go away lol
24points
JK 4 days ago
In my last job they had a bunch of dead keyboards. I joked that I was going to take them home and leave them in random places for the cats to lounge on. Mind you, I no longer have cats, but I thought it would be an excellent and confusing distraction.
8
#8
This happened about 12 years ago (my cat passed just this past winter at age 18; she had a long happy life though). Dragonfly was extremely smart, and believe me, she understood what was said to her. It was shortly before Christmas and I had a small artificial tree up. A friend and I were sitting on the couch. Dragonfly kept biting one of the branches, and I kept telling her no. Finally, I yelled her name and clapped my hands. She stopped, glared at me, then she leaned forward, licked the branch, then ran off. She knew exactly what she was doing.
20points
Beth Wheeler 2 days ago (edited)
That little furry brat!
6
#9
Crawl into our bed at 5:30AM … It’s totally ok to sleep in the bed, but where I take offense is when he makes such a ruckus and climbs all over so I can’t sleep. Only for him to sprawl all over and sleep, after I evacuated my place. For one braincell, he is an evil genius
19points
Bec 3 days ago
We had two beloved cat brothers from kittens to teen years who would sleep on the bed with us, after they passed we adopted princess and she would want to get on the bed pillow and proceed to clean herself on and on until she got the boot. She had to be closed out of the bedroom for many years, but eventually was allowed back in for occasional snoozes on my legs, or to sleep on one of our pillows after we have vacated it.
3
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#10
My cat Gretel tries blackmail: if she doesn’t get her way, she threatens to pee in the kitchen area while howling loudly to get my attention.
Since she HAS peed there in the past, I take it seriously. I try to find out what she wants but if it’s not possible (like me dropping everything and going to bed to keep her warm or making the rain stop Western Australia winter), then the battle of wills is ON!
She may be just a little bit spoilt … but I did win the “Bring in the live rodents to play with in the air conditioning battle” (Western Australian summer). Not before a rat and then a mouse were mislaid. She got the rat later but we never did catch the mouse.
19points
JK 4 days ago
That is so funny! Way back I would catsit and the owners kept a k**l list. June (female tiny tabby) had something like 20. Averil, a very placid black male kitty who was adopted as a stray had just one. So I let them out and told Averil to bring me back a treat. I think he picked up one of June’s earlier kills because they would toss the mice back into the woods. I added to his list.
10
#11
My dog knows she’s not supposed to bring her very big outside-ball inside. But when I am on a work call (wfh) she brings it in, while locking eyes with me, knowing full well, I can’t yell at her in that moment.
18points
Marsha Hultberg 7 hours ago
Cheeky baby.
2
#12
Henri is the smaller of my two voids, and she’s a delicate little lady but very much into everything. Henri slams doors for attention. She gets behind an open door and stands up, pushing and “walking” it closed. She’s trapped Loverboy in closed rooms several times. I think the most annoying is when she slams my glass shower door!
17points
Ti Al 2 days ago
We had a moment with our two very beloved, now late, cats. The female decided she didn’t like her brother, who was a very competent door-opener, anymore. One day I saw her in the bedroom, VERY casually leaning against the wardrobe door. Suspiciously casual. When i heard the door rattle a little bit, she started singing loudly. Yes, her brother was in there. No, he wasn’t supposed to be in there. No, she wasn’t planning on letting him out. We had lots of people ask us afterwards why we secured every door with a bolt.
10
#13
We took in a cat from a friend; he was a big, smart boy, maybe some Maine C**n. He knew to wait to get into things when we left the house, or just as I would drift off to sleep. No houseplants at any height were safe! He would also wait for me at the window by the front door to meet me after work, and liked to play fetch – which he worked out how to do on his own.
17points
Cee Cee 2 days ago
I came home and found Lola on the window sill curled up in the sun around an orange tree growing in a 12″ pot.
6
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#14
Our cat likes dog food, and our dog’s feeder opens when she gets close to the feeder. Our dog sleeps in a crate at night, so the cat learned to push the dog’s feeder close to the crate at night. The feeder would open, and the cat would enjoy dog food all night long.
16points
Bored Birgit 2 days ago
Wow, that is a smart cat.
6
#15
Female cat comes to get me when her brother doesn’t let her eat because she knows he won’t dare bully her when I’m around. Also, they both fart on you, which is pure, evil, biological warfare.
15points
Kombatbunni 3 hours ago
Nothing says I love you like a headbutt or a kitty toot to the face, and I’ve had both happen to me 😂
0
#16
Chicco 🐕 leaves toys and bones EXACTLY where I’m going to tread on them. It’s uncanny. He’s got my movements in the house honed down to a science.
15points
Bored Birgit 2 days ago (edited)
My cat Nelli does this with a small bird that has a sound chip, so that I step on it at night when going to the bathroom. And I swear, I can hear her chuckle every time! 🤭
5
#17
My chonky floof Tig often decides he wants attention at 3 am, when I am sound asleep. He stands on my chest, and when that doesn’t work, he licks my eyelids. Imagine the most sensitive parts of your body being rubbed with sandpaper. It’s an evil thing he has found that works every time
14points
Peppy 3 days ago
My little Kremlin tabby would do this, even though hubby let her in n the morning and fed her, always sprint upstairs lick eyelids, I miss her 😻
5
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#18
I’m lucky my birds can’t get up to too much mischief! 😆 Aside from constantly trashing my floor by dropping stuff on it, the main thing I need to deal with is my conure mocking me. Eg: I’ll cough (I have asthma, so it happens a lot) and then a few seconds later I’ll hear this *cough… cough…* from down the hallway. Or I get “go to sleep!” parroted (pun intended) back at me.
I didn’t even try to teach him to talk, and conures aren’t known for their talking ability. I just have an annoying one.❤️
14points
Bored Birgit 2 days ago (edited)
Give him a partner, he certainly will be distracted from parroting you. 🐦💚🐦
4
#19
My dog does the word buzzers, only we don’t have as many (13), so when there’s something he wants and there’s no buzzer for it, he’ll bring it to me or sit and stare at the item. Sometimes he’ll come and take me by the hand and lead me to what he wants. But the coolest thing he does is unbelievable! So I’m a sleepwalker, and he lays on my legs at night to keep me in bed!
12points
#20
We got our love about 13 years ago for me specifically. I am disabled and actively sick. I needed a cat that was bomb-proof. A cat who could handle all of my problems. She decided to teach herself to go get my mom if I don’t recover from throwing up in the correct amount of time. She’s also sick, however, and on her last month. I’m taking her for a walk today.
12points
Bored Birgit 2 days ago
🫂
2
#21
When my cat wants wet food, but it’s not time for wet food she will wait for me to pass by again, sometimes meow until she gets my attention, then run to her food bowl. She’ll then make a show of eating the dry food and spitting it out on the floor like ‘I’m trying human to eat the dry food, but it’s simply not edible!’ She’ll try this for like 10 minutes before giving up and eating the food in her bowl and what she spit out onto the floor.
12points
Doris Bennett 2 days ago
Smart girl!❤️
2
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#22
I store my baseball caps in an antique picnic basket on top of an armoire at least six feet tall. My orange tabby, Jerry, has figured out how to jump up on top of the armoire (I have no idea how) and how to get the VERY heavy lid open and crawl inside. He won’t come out unless I shake the treat canister, and now my hats are covered with hair.
11points
Beth Wheeler 2 days ago
I had a cat that could jump to the same height as my son’s face who is 6: 6 ‘ tall to get a toy that he absolutely loved.
2
#23
I adopted our little dog Alice while my husband was out of town for work. I just needed some company during his absences and the kids were becoming very independent. He was not initially happy. She has a luxating patella so will occasionally three leg it (according to the vet it isn’t painful and surgery would do more harm than good). As she grew these occurrences became rarer. Fast forward 7 years and when it is bedtime my husband makes a big show of yelling “bedtime”. Alice immediately jumps onto the floor and will go completely lame until he comes and carries her to the bed. She sleeps underneath his arm and will stretch out her tiny legs into my back and push me away if we try to spoon. I still love her like crazy but never expected that the dog I SAVED would also steal my husband. 😂
11points
Bored Birgit 2 days ago
Next time you may consider to adopt a male dog. 🐕
0
#24
I have a little Calico cat and I love her dearly. But she has her own personality. She has little, slender paws, all feminine and cute. But they’re less cute when they dig into my shoulder blades while I’m sleeping! They look like chopsticks! It’s her way of waking me up early in the morning to give her food (even if her bowl is still full).
10points
Bored Birgit 2 days ago
Ah, my cat Nelli jumps from the cat tree on my belly with a “mew” sound early in the morning when she decides I have had enough sleep. Between 5 and 7am usually. Always gives me a kind of heart attack.
2
#25
I keep a treat container on my nightstand for “bedtime cookies.” It’s the kind with a button on the lid to keep the lid on. My cat has learned that if staring intently at the container doesn’t yield the desired results of cookies, then knocking off the nightstand on the off chance it pops open is the next step. It’s happened at least 2x, so now we keep the cookie container on the floor.
10points
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#26
One of mine hated closed doors. We had the pull-down handles and she’d open the toilet door and bathroom door – when in use even! Cupboards, as well. She’d steal thawing meat, so I started to put it in cupboards. Nope she opened it, even the ones up top. Next, in the oven’s warmer drawer, she got in! Via the back of it actually, although the gap looked too small to me.
She loved to rip up paper too, so we started keeping important papers in a locked cupboard, old cabinet, with an old-style key. She’d watch us do this. I came home one day to find her sitting in front of it with a paw on either side of this key doing her best to turn it – the correct way!! Lucky it was a bit too stiff and she didn’t succeed. Animals are not stupid, what they’d do with thumbs is interesting, if not scary.
10points
Grm Moore (Submission author) 2 days ago
My cat that is.
3
#27
Orangie. He ate every rubber band and yards of string. What did not make sense is that it was never found in the litter box and he never exhibited signs of distress. He also ate the nerf darts we would use for chase play if I didn’t find them all and put them in an Orangie-proof place. I would find the little blue nubs a few days later. He must have had a very odd digestive system. He definitely earned his nickname P00P.
9points
detective miller’s hat 14 hours ago
I cannot keep anything that remotely resembles string/ribbon out in the open, or Harleyquinn will try to eat it. I used to always tie Christmas gifts with coloured string, but no more! Not risking Harley needing emergency surgery to remove it after it gets tangled in her guts.
1
#28
Through the summer short nights my dog Jasper has decided 3:30 in the morning is getting up time. This, of course, ensures the other 2 get up too and want breakfast. Very annoying. Luckily, I’m retired, so I go back to bed after lunch. Even so, I’d much rather he didn’t.
9points
murmelinpaiva 2 days ago
Do you live in Scandinavia?
-2
#29
My daughter’s cat, Dune (a Devon Rex), bites her in her sleep and wakes her up! Even though, she has tried playing with him A LOT before bedtime to tire him out. And he will bite anywhere. During the day he will randomly bite people without warning, and he is not doing it for attention, as he casually walks away afterwards. My daughter asks if cats can feel remorse and I tell her this one doesn’t! We love him anyways.
8points
Ms.GB 2 days ago
My dad had a cat when he was single and he told me he once woke up in the middle of the night and his toe was hurting really bad but he didn’t know why. He sat up and he’s tall so his feet were right at the edge of the bed and his cat was hanging off his big toe by it’s claws.
4
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#30
I have an orange FEMALE tabby [1 in 5 or 10, can’t remember which are females but orange tabbys are usually male]. Unique lives up to her name. She can open my apartment doors whether they are push-open like the bedroom or pull-open like my outside doors. To wake me up she is 😈 evil. She grabs my foot and bites my toes. She then runs put of the room. When I go to make my coffee, she runs up and grabs the back of my leg trying to bite me. Evil cat that hates me lol. Yet she has to have access to me or sits at the door crying. If I don’t open it she keeps jumping and hitting the door handle until she opens it, then just struts in. Unique also walks on a leash. Funny little girl.
8points
#31
My dog, Olivia, likes to sneak up on her blind sister (lula) and scare her. We scold her but she dosent listen
7points
#32
Samson Stimpson recognizes the numeral 6. That means kibble time. Commence with cat noises.
6points
#33
Well, it doesn’t seem ‘Evil’, and I’m not sure it’s ‘Clever’. Does ‘Weird’ count? We have a rescue tabby named Apollo who plays Fetch. He was lonely (we had three cats total, all rescues, and no two of them could stand each other) and kept wailing about no one loving him or playing with him or paying attention to him (he *LIES*). So we got a kitten for him. Another rescue tabby, a four month old neutered male. Very curious, *very* hyperactive, VERY hard to contain, so we named him ‘Pixel’, after Robert Heinlein’s ‘The Cat Who Walks Through Walls’. Within a week, Apollo had taught Pixel to Fetch. And, I have to say, the kid has Brought Balance To The Furs. Our cats all seem to get along OK now.
6points
sfgothgirl 1 day ago
“I got my cat a cat!”
2
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#34
My tabby is such a sweet cat. He knows when I am sick or having migranes. He comforts me by lying the whole day next to me on the bed.
Normally he is very actif and loves to go outside, but when I am feeling sick he decides to stay with me. Love him ❤️
6points
#35
Wakes me up at 5/6 in the morning but not on the days I have early shift. And if I don not open the door he bites me when at the toilet. The little *ss is however very cute but he needs to sh*t up in the morning.
5points
Beth Wheeler 2 days ago
I’m usually awake at 6 when my alarm goes off. If I don’t get up I also have one on my phone for 6:30. If I don’t get up usually my male German Shepherd mix will lay his head on my legs or lap. A couple of times when I fell asleep in the recliner the little 100 lb snot divebombed me. Come on woman we gotta go pee NOW! His 85 lb sister will put her foot on me and dig in, she uses her foot like a hand to grip.
3
#36
Minnie cat, when she dastardly cuddles up to me and keeps me from moving for quite some time. I’m knot, just going to keep taking that.
4points
#37
Q-Tip will hide in the bathtub or in the shadows around the corner to get the jump on his brother. If he sees me first he will lay down and roll over like the most innocent kitty ever.
4points
sfgothgirl 1 day ago
Awesome name! 🩷
1
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#38
Max the Black , Cat of New Jersey, knows what he said . . . and so does everyone at church that day. He knew. He knew not everyone could pet him at once. That one, little mew.. That joy entropied, . . and all the bells were ringing . . ..or .. – the truth – It’s when he wakes me up to sneeze on my face.
3points
#39
At the end of the day around dinner time, our cat would walk on the piano keys, because he knew that it would upset me…
I would yell at him, our dog would play cat cop, barking at the cat to get off the piano.
Once the house was in an uproar, I would realize what time it was and feed them both dinner.
Smart little SOB (cat) had me trained really well!
2points
#40
Every morning, both of my cats come in to the bathroom, while I am sitting there doing my business, and sit and stare at me in unison. They want their morning brushing.
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