Many many years ago, I married a man who had a rescued Doberman who had been nursed back to health from distemper. When our son was born, he would sleep under his crib as a guard dog. Incredibly scary looking but also incredibly gentle animal. You always got the feeling he was grateful.
He taught himself how to ring the doorbell to be let in! We would go to answer the bell and find only the dog. After this happened a few times, we looked out the window to find him on his hind legs ringing the bell.
Once when said X had a road trip and stayed overnight in a motel that wouldn't allow dogs, he put him to bed in the little van. Think old hippie van. Next morning, all's well, he drove off but kept smelling dog shit. Looked and looked and finally found it... He had chewed a hole in the foam padding used on the benches, pooped in the hole and then put throw pillows over it.