I'm no stranger to smart dogs...I grew up with herding dogs (Shetland sheepdogs) and we've owned and trained police k9s. I honestly wasn't expecting too much intelligence from a bulldog but WOW I was wrong. I've never had a dog that was so in tune to humans and seems to literally understand English. Belle is extremely smart...she watches every move we make and she is extremely intuitive. She can tell just by my body language if she's going to go with me somewhere or if she's going to stay home. A few minutes ago she went over to my husband who was sitting on the couch. She sat and stared at him. My husband was working on the computer but casually said, "You wanna play? Go find your rope and I'll tug with you." We watched in amazement as she looked around, spotted her rope toy under the dining room table, and went to get it. She brought it back to him and dropped it in front of him. We were amazed. I swear she's part human! I know bulldogs don't have the best reputation for trainability but I'm amazed at how smart this breed is!