Do Dogs Think?

Well obviously, in their own sweet, dim way, dogs do think but they do it in that hung ho, let's-run-our-faces - into-a-door kind of way which so often makes them so lovable and indeed dog-like. But yesterday I was fortunate to be able to watch Winnie process the information she was given by a complete stranger then act on that processing. You could see her thinking about it.
It was an interesting thing to watch.

We were out and about when two strangers came into view. Winnie was off the lead so stopped briefly to eye them both carefully. The strangers were a mother and her middle aged son. She was driving a mobility scooter. He was carrying the shopping and paused to pat Winnie on the head whilst chatting . His mother, who looked as though she had a CVA obviously wanted to stroke Winnie too but had pulled too far forward to be able to reach so without really thinking about it her so told Winnie to say hello to her. In actual fact he told Winnie twice and pointed at his mother as he did so, and quite clearly the bulldog understood what he wanted from her, for after a moment of contemplation she gave a snort like a bull and then ambled over to the woman and raised her head up in greeting.
She not only followed a simple instruction but she processed the request in order to follow that instruction.
This is a trait common in bulldogs I have found.