Some dogs are just so smart, it's amazing. We had a German Shepard named Lady. My husband got her as a puppy before I even met him, so when we first started dating, she just kind of tolerated me. When he and I would sit on the sofa, she'd crawl onto the couch and wedge herself between us. If I told her to do something, she'd look at him and as long as he said "okay", she'd do it. Really, how insulting!!
When our son was born, I was concerned about how she'd take it. She immediately became my son's "mother". She would position herself so that she was always able to see what my son was doing. When he was old enough to sit up and start moving around on the floor, she would always be between him and any guests he might have. I remember one time a friend of ours came to visit. My son was sitting in the middle of the living room floor with some toys. Lady knew this friend for years. But she was always between my son and the friend. My friend got up and moved to another part of the living room, and Lady repositioned herself so she was still between the two. It was hilarious.
She used to sleep under my son's crib at night. At first, when he was first born, I'd try to drag her out of his room. Of course, she immediately planted all four and there was no getting her out of there! So that became her sleeping spot - under the crib. If my son started to cry, Lady would come looking for me and look at me like - "My baby is crying - DO SOMETHING!!!"
About 10 years ago (when Lady was 11 years old), she was stung by a bee and died of an allergic reaction before we even knew what was wrong with her. We've had several dogs, cats, birds, fish, hamsters, a snake (a serious moment of weakness - Speedy came home from Scout camp with us one year), but none of them could hold a candle to Lady. To this day, I still miss her.