"Yea, but dogs lack the capability of higher reasoning"

From what I see, so do many kids. My dog has put "Find the treat!" together with "Do you want to play ball?", so when I told her to "Find the ball", she started scouring the field for her tennis ball and found it. And I'm sure if someone took her into a sewer drain, she could find her way out.

Dog, 2
Kids, 0

"and they don't have thumbs to hold a cell phone . . ."

YES!!!