How Our Doodle Predicted a Goodbye That Didn't Happen
A real story + an "AI Doodle” explaining why it happened
Observation
Dogs and AI often appear to understand more than they actually do — and that illusion is exactly what caught my attention here. This small moment with our Goldendoodle revealed three pieces of The Doodle Principle in action.
First, it highlights the fallacy that dogs or AI possess human-like intelligence. They don’t — they simply appear to because they excel at recognizing familiar patterns. Our Goldendoodle wasn’t “thinking” about separation or travel plans; she was predicting the next likely event based on a sequence she’s learned. AI works the same way. It doesn’t reason. It predicts.
Second, it shows how both dogs and AI can “hallucinate” when making confident guesses from incomplete context. Our doodle assumed another goodbye was coming because the pattern felt close enough, even without luggage. AI does this too — confidently filling in what it expects should be true.
Finally, this moment is a perfect example of a Doodle: you notice something unexpected, your curiosity activates, and you turn to AI to explore what’s really going on beneath the surface. A simple car ride becomes a story about perception, attachment, prediction, and how easily we misunderstand both dogs and AI.
Wonder
My youngest went back to school Sunday.
My oldest not until Tuesday, so on Monday we took our mini Goldendoodle to my mother-in-law’s, who lives close to the airport.
Our mini usually loves car rides, but this time she was super anxious and clingy to my son — and getting worse as we got closer to the airport. There were no bags or luggage. We were just going to my MIL’s like we’ve done dozens of times. The only difference was our other son had left the day before.
We exit to my MIL’s just before the terminal entrance.
As soon as we took that exit and it was clear we weren’t going to the terminal, our mini instantly settled down and went to sleep on my son’s lap.
We figure she was worried we were dropping him off at the airport, didn’t want him to leave, and only relaxed once she realized he was staying with her.
Can doodles really be that perceptive?
AI Exploration
I was curious so I copied by question into my favorite AI, ChatGPT. Here’s the response it gave me taken verbatim.
What the AI Noticed (The Doodle)
Yes — Goldendoodles absolutely can be that perceptive, and your mini’s behavior fits perfectly with what we see in highly bonded, intelligent, emotionally attuned breeds.
Here’s why what happened makes complete sense:
🧠 1. Doodles are pattern machines
Goldendoodles quickly learn the entire sequence of “someone is going to the airport.”
Not just the people involved — but the:
Luggage or backpacks
Mood/energy in the house
Length of the car ride
Highway exits
Turns and smells near the terminal
Even the tone of small talk in the car
You don’t have to consciously teach any of it. They just absorb it.
Your mini has probably linked:
“Airport → someone I love disappears.”
That’s an emotionally loaded pattern.
❤️ 2. Doodles form very deep bonds
She wasn’t just anxious — she was tracking.
Goldendoodles develop strong attachments to the family “unit,” and when something feels off or a separation is coming, they feel it before it happens.
Anxiety isn’t random; it’s an early-alert system:
“I’ve seen this combination of signals before. It means someone leaves.”
Their reactions show anticipatory stress, very similar to how toddlers behave when a parent packs a suitcase.
🛣️ 3. Dogs remember routes better than most people
This part of your story is the giveaway:
“As soon as we exited and it was clear we were not going to the terminal, our mini settled down and went to sleep.”
Dogs map routines in a spatial way — the roads to the airport are as recognizable to them as the smell of their favorite treat. The closer you got to the terminal exit, the more her internal alarm went off.
The moment you took the non-airport exit, her entire prediction model updated:
“Oh. He’s staying. Crisis over.”
And she went right into a post-adrenaline slump — the nap.
🎯 Why the lack of bags made the reaction stronger
The interesting thing is that there were no bags, no luggage, no physical cues.
That actually heightens what happened.
Dogs don’t rely primarily on objects.
They rely on:
who is present
who is missing
the sequence of family events
the route being traveled
your collective mood
Your mini already knew:
one son left yesterday
the “family unit” was already disrupted
now you’re driving the other son toward the airport corridor
This triggered a near-perfect prediction:
“Everyone is leaving. I need to stay close to this one.”
That’s exactly why she clung to him — and exactly why she collapsed into relief the moment the pattern broke.
📌 The Bottom Line
Yes — doodles can be that perceptive.
Your mini wasn’t anxious for herself.
She was anxious for him.
And the instant she realized her human wasn’t disappearing through an airport door, she went straight from hypervigilance to peaceful, relieved sleep.
It’s one of the clearest examples of canine emotional intelligence you could ask for.
Understanding
Watching her settle the moment she realized he wasn’t leaving reminded me how deeply our dogs read us — or seem to. What looks like emotional intuition is often something simpler and more interesting: rapid pattern-matching wrapped in affection. AI creates that same illusion. It feels intelligent because it predicts well enough to mimic understanding.
In this case, our doodle predicted a goodbye that never came — a tiny “hallucination” shaped by incomplete context and a familiar emotional pattern. Exploring that moment through AI transformed it into something deeper. When I shared the story with family, their reactions ranged from that’s amazing! to dogs really are human-like. But when I shared it with AI, I received a clearer view into the actual mechanics of her behavior: how she tracks the family “unit,” how she builds predictive models, and how small routine changes reshape her emotional world.
The same simple story produced two very different kinds of insight — and that contrast is the heart of The Doodle Principle. AI doesn’t replace our experiences; it expands them, revealing the hidden patterns behind the moments we live. I hope this little Doodle shows how AI can become your partner in curiosity and creativity, helping you understand more than you noticed at first glance.
This post uses The Doodle Loop™: Observe, Wonder, Explore, Understand — a simple rhythm that turns ordinary moments into examples of how AI can become a partner in curiosity and creativity.