I have two mutts and two pure breeds (all but one are rescues). The oldest mutt is a really streetsmart dog. A home my wife had him at before here, he and an older Jack Russel ALWAYS fought, never really got along. My mutt used to want to make pups with Jack's daughter and he didn't like that. One day my mutt and Jack got out. A day later only my mutt came home, but he was acting agitated and trying to get attention. He led my wife right to a shed a few hundred feet away where the Jack was wedged and stuck in some brush and wood underneath. Probably saved his life, even though he didn't like the old codger.

Another time, after the mutt was here, I watched a 6 foot snake move quick, but probably a walking pace for it across my yard. Seemed to clear from fence to fence in about 5 body sways. The thing was scary large. My mutt had let out his 'snake bark' (he's some kind of large terrier mutt). That's how I saw the thing. He's never hunted with me, but he knew exactly what I was doing. I ran out the fence and grabbed my flat head shovel. The weeds on the other side my fence were like chest high and thick... couldn't see shit. But he kept a few paces ahead of me and was hyper alert trying to help me hunt that snake so I could kill it. I actually couldn't find it, it was probably too much quicker than us at our more cautious pace, but I know he knew what we were doing and he was guarding me and tracking it. We've done the same thing since with smaller snakes and he gets me right to it, sometimes corners them barking and keeping away from striking range, but always backs off and lets me do the killing. I realize 'hunting' is something dogs should be smart enough to do on their own, but that always impressed me because he's never been trained and made a great sidekick.