some of the dogs seem to be using it in ways that are very curious and convincing.
most of what i'm seeing, however, is something more along the lines of a dog pushing the button and waiting for attention. we think we're doing a study on the dog. but the dog seems to be doing a study on us. what does the human do if i press this button? how about this button? most of the time, the dog will push the button and wait for a reaction, which tells me it's the one doing the experiment on us.
however, i've also seen some videos where the dogs are really acting independently with clarity and decisiveness. the videos where the dog pushes the button and then takes an action are more convincing than the ones where the dog pushes the button and waits for a reaction. for example, i saw a video where a dog pressed "bedtime" and then got up and independently went to bed, without waiting for any reaction from the human. that dog was apparently putting itself to bed, like a little kid, because the human forgot to do it.
i don't have difficulty accepting the idea. dogs understand commands. that's unambiguous. dogs are also constantly struggling to communicate. so, whether specific dogs are able to get it or not is something i want to see the evidence for. i'm willing to believe it, if you can prove it to me.
right now, it's still ambiguous, and i'm skeptical that most dogs are able to really crack the code. based on what i've seen, only a select collection of dogs are going to be smart enough to really get it, some small percent, and the rest are just pushing your buttons to get you to react to them. further, how well a dog is trained (in general) is likely relevant in their ability to understand the buttons.