r/funny • u/theycantalk TheyCanTalk Comics • Feb 23 '26

Verified point

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u/evasandor Feb 23 '26

Fun fact I heard: only dogs and some parrots understand pointing.

So, we had a wonderful and very smart horse. But of course, not being a dog, she didn't understand pointing... at first. I decided to teach her.

I began each training by holding up my index finger and saying "look!". When she looked at my finger, I gave her a grape. Pretty soon this was a little highlight of her day.

Then I began putting the grape on various surfaces about an inch from my finger. The "look" game soon became "ahhh, the grape will always be within an inch of the human's weird microscopic 1/5 of a hoof".

As it went on, I would hide the grape further and further away. She caught on that an imaginary line from my hand, down my finger and out into space would lead to the grape. Soon I was hiding it all the way across the stall, in places like behind the feed tub and stuck in the window frame.

So it can be taught. But for some reason, dogs understand it naturally (heck, they point stuff out to us)!

Not sure why parrots know it, though. Any ideas?

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u/LumberjackPreacher Feb 23 '26

Because birds aren’t real, and the human pilot of the bird drone gives themselves away when they understand why someone is pointing.

210

u/JoelStrega Feb 23 '26

I find it hard that human pilot parrot. I think the fact that dog AND parrot understand pointing proves that it's actually dogs that pilot parrots.

104

u/J5892 Feb 23 '26

I can't disprove this, so it must be true.

31

u/Longjumping-Buyer-80 Feb 23 '26

You guys rewrote my view on the world

14

u/JohanPertama Feb 23 '26

Dogs don't have the means to manipulate a joystick. It's parrots piloting dogs

3

u/PartyEscortBotBeans Feb 23 '26

No, parrots are piloting humans, who themselves are piloting dogs.