This Reading GoldenDoodle Is Blowing Our Minds [Video]

Lori Ennis
by Lori Ennis
No longer is it, “Are you smarter than a fifth-grader?” A goldendoodle from Colorado now has the internet scratching its collective head wondering how in the heck it can read commands from cards!

So when I say my dog is smart, I mean that she understands (mostly) what I tell her to do and does it, relatively quickly.


When David and Joanne Greenbaum say their one-year-old Goldendoodle Oakley is smart, they mean that he can read. Yes, read.


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A video showing Oakley performing the commands that are on cards in front of her is blowing the internet’s mind, and leaves many of us wishing we could train our significant others to be so…obedient.


The couple says that they’d been working with a trainer for Oakely since he was a puppy. The trainer, Ciera Wilson, told them that it could be possible to teach dogs to recognize words, and though they thought she was nuts for trying, turns out that good old Oakley is a bookworm at heart!


Wilson uses a lot of treats and makes slow but sure associations with the behaviors and the words for Oakely. Currently, he is ‘reading’ four words but they are looking for him to have ten when reading class is over and done.


The Greenbaums hope that they can have Oakley be a service dog who will visit with children in the hospital. They want to show children what Oakley can do to be encouraging and entertaining.


Related: Dog Photographer Shares His Love For His Furry Subjects [Video]


They’ve tried to teach their other dogs, Harper and Maggie, to read, but they’re both eight-years-old and apparently live by the adage of not teaching dogs new tricks.


When Oakley is not reading and wowing the world, he’s just a big old lapdog who likes to chase cars. A perfect balance of brainy goofball!

Lori Ennis
Lori Ennis

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