Every day walking though the stables I give the ponies some mints. I am fairly certain judging from their behaviors that when they see me they are thinking 'Min

Every day walking though the stables I give the ponies some mints. I am fairly certain judging from their behaviors that when they see me they are thinking 'Mints!'. One day, when I found the dog looking excitedly down a drain I said 'Rats!'. Now if I say 'Rats?' she goes and looks. I know she is thinking - 'I lost a rat down there once and I'd desperately love to make its acquaintance again'. I do not think that there is much difference between the way we and other animals think. We get confused in the same way and even subconscious things like 'infectious yawn' see to pass freely to the horse and the dog and back to me. Some people have a hard time accepting that animals do think and whereas I recognize the easy peril of anthropomorphising subjects - I also suspect a political unwillingness and discomfiture in accepting animal intelligence.