I don't think dogs are a great example of an intelligent species just because we can communicate with them reasonably well. They have evolved to be able to part

I don't think dogs are a great example of an intelligent species just because we can communicate with them reasonably well. They have evolved to be able to participate in human society. With the exception of some breeds of herding dogs, they're probably stupider than (to pick one example) raccoons. But dogs possess a key trait that raccoons lack: they can understand human emotion reasonably well.