Dogs definitely know when they're doing something they're not supposed to be doing. They get all sneaky and quiet, and look hella guilty if you catch them.
Yeah, just like the post described - they know good and bad. They get sneaky, quiet and guilty because they know they were bad.
I have a cat and a dog and i swear to god, my cat gives me a challenging look of pure intent when she does something that she KNOWS she is not allowed; Like jumping up the kitchen counter. We don't want her on that. She sits in front of it, sees me coming, looks me in the eyes with a very certain look and jumps on it. When i tell her to jump down, she will do it immediately but again... a look of pure intent and naughtiness.
My cat has never even once jumped on the table to get something she shouldn’t have. The ONLY reason she ever gets up there is when she decides she’s been crying for dinner too long, because she knows she’s not supposed to. She doesn’t even know WHY she’s not supposed to, she has no idea what to do when she’s up there. She gets up on it and just stands there and looks at me.
Absolutely! My parents have a horizontal bar slightly higher than the working surface in their kitchen. The cats are allowed on the bar, not on the surface. These fuckers lay on the bar and stretch their paws down so they are barely hovering above the surface, as if they were saying "I'm not touching it!" like a child. And that's not a relaxed position, they have to really stretch their paws to touch it. Yet they always do it and look at you like "what are you gonna do? I'm not touching it!"
I'd say dogs kmow when they're intending to be bad, such as stealing food, going in places they're not allowed whilete think their owner isn't home or when they generally think they're yet to be caught being bad, they act mischievously. I'd also say that it's the intention to be bad that is naughty, and dogs are very capable of that.
I think the difference is that dogs can think "hoohoo I'm gonna be bad >:)" which is a naughty thought, and means they understand it, but they can't go to that next point where cats are which is "I'm gonna do something naughty and I don't even care about the bad bit at all".
Except huskies. Huskies know no guilt. When you catch them, that's how play starts
Huskies are like a mix of toddler and teenager.
Toddler-like play, teenager-like back talk and sass.
To be fair, raccoons give (and take) gifts. I think they consider anything shiny or colorful you leave out accessible to them a gift. My wife was attempting to feed neighborhood cats and we did get some, but we also got raccoons. They took a bright red bowl we were feeding them out of. In return, we've received several shiny rocks and a spoon.
Raccoons giveth, and raccoons taketh away.
The magpie of mammals.
[citation needed]
I left out a crockpot of mostly eaten mac and cheese on the counter. I was on the couch half-asleep when I heard my keys (which were next to this crockpot) jingle. I didn't say anything, I just turned my head and saw my cat running for cover as if it had just tripped the alarms during a heist gone wrong. How do I interpret this in any way other than my cat knowing what it was doing was naughty?
I can sometimes hear my cats jumping off of something in the kitchen and they then look at me guiltily while I investigate the countertop to make sure they didn't do anything.
Had cats, can hear this comment.
I was cat-sitting for a friend once when the cat started scratching my friend's couch. I wasn't even looking at the cat and in a very gentle tone I said "I could could end you really quick if I wanted. Not cool, dude." (obviously an empty threat)
The little guy went off to another room for his own little shame party then sulked back into the room and we were couch friends again.
They absolutely know what they're up to.
Be cats. Do crime.
Nyan
Volunteered in a wildlife shelter with two foxes. When I brought in the meals, one of the foxes would wait at the door, and as soon as I laid down the food he would take his choice piece of the meal, walk somewhere and hide it for himself.
Dog hardware, cat software
Cunning as a fox is a saying too
If I give a boiled egg to our cat it might eat it if she's hungry. If I leave a boiled egg on the table, she'll stalk it, steal it and run under the couch with it.
Can’t do theft if everything already belongs to you.
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I love cats. This is accurate and makes them better.
Dogs actually do. Definitely birds as well, especially parrots.
Im to late. I was going to say this was obviously posted by someone who has never had a parrot species. I pretend to my goffin that I don't like him ripping the cardboard I put around his cage so it becomes more of a target.
same with ferrets. if you don't give them outlets to be "bad", they will destroy everything. lots of pretending I don't notice a they drag the old shoes across the floor to the new hiding spot, or "steal" kibble from the bag. had one guy that would check to see if I was busy in the bathroom before he'd go do the thing he really wanted to do. like steal the candy off my desk.
my cat, on the other hand, just yells for what she wants. worst case, if I leave her alone too long, she might decide she deserves a treat and will get it for herself. from the bag I left on the floor, knowing she could her it herself.
My dog sees my girlfriend and I and then after, she wants a piece of my leg. It's kinda cute, but disturbing at the same time. She knows what she's doing. Parrots yeah I'm not surprised either.
Went to a girl's house once. Her (female) Dachshund sniffed me a little when I got there, otherwise no interest in me.
The second I kissed the girl, oh boy. Dog was straight over, barking her head off, walked over the back of the sofa and plopped herself in-between us growling. She knew exactly what we were planning to do and wasn't having it. Attempted cock block by a Weiner.
Wait, why does your girlfriend want a piece of your leg? That sounds psychopathic.
Ah, mischievous, fluffy, adorable, little bastards !
I don't think this is quite right. Cats might do something you don't want them to do for the sole purpose of pissing you off, but I don't think they understand stealing any better than other animals. My dog won't steal things just to make me upset, but she will for another reason. She stole a rag from somewhere when she escaped one time, but she did it to show off to us, not to make us mad. Dogs certainly don't like it when you take something they're eating, and probably understand that we don't like it either. Cats differ from other pets in that they piss you off for fun, not because they understand naughtiness or ownership better.
Many animals have an understanding of ownership and territory that's not dissimilar to our own. If they intend to eat or use an object, they'll protect it with violence. Animals won't let other animals into their den most of the time, might guard food or water sources, and predators will protect their territory with violence. Modern human ownership simply passes most of the duty of protecting property to the state, while pet owners are in charge of keeping our pets from taking things we don't want them to take through physical force. That's all ownership is: protecting things we want the exclusive ability to use through violence.
Wrong. Cats understand us perfectly. They're the only pet animal that move in with us on their own volition. An apex predator (for their weight class) one day decides to humour us and allow themselves to be called Mr. Mittens. What are they really up to?
I love cats and have 3 but you're wrong.
They are very dumb little apex predators that prefer being lazy and scavenging. It's fact.
Wild dogs in certain countries may choose to move in with humans or leave when they feel like it. That's been true for most of their history. Hell, the main reason dogs in most English speaking countries don't roam free and join humans at will is thanks to a concerted effort to eradicate them because they hunt livestock and can hurt humans. Dogs are apex predators in their own right thanks to superior social abilities over cats. Dogs mostly chose to live with us, and many have the ability to survive without us.
Other common pets like rodents and parrots can also exist in nature just fine. Parrots are exceptionally intelligent and while rodents aren't, many are powerful enough to be a major pest to us humans. Cats are awesome, but they're only more autonomous than other pets in the modern era. Most other pets aren't allowed that level of freedom for their own safety and for ours.
If wild dogs or coyotes are common in your area, it might not be a good idea to even let them roam. Where I live, roaming cats have short life expectancies thanks to coyotes and cars.
"Cat burglar"
Cats understand that humans are a factor, and decide to work around that factor.
That's basically how they live with humans in the first place, they're not properly domesticated, just happens that they can live with us.
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princehendir
Cats understand "naughty". In fact I think they're the only animal who understands it. Dogs know "good" and "bad" but not Naughty. Same with theft. Cats know what theft is. They know when they are thieving and you can see it on their faces. Squirrels are thieves but they don't know that. They know "take" and "have" but they don't comprehend what it is to steal. Nor do raccoons or coyotes or any species of rodent. They may participate in theft but they are ignorant of the weight of what they do, the full meaning of it. Cats know what crime is and they do it on purpose.
This is why cats remind me of that time I stole my older brother's fidget spinners.
