Study: Our Doggie Friends Can be Calculating Thieves
About Michael John ScottMr. Scott is the owner and publisher of Mad Mike's America. He is a U.S. Army veteran, career law enforcement executive, and dog trainer. He is a university professor, and criminal justice consultant, holding several degrees, including a master's in criminal justice and human services. He has completed the requisite coursework toward his doctorate, and is still working on his dissertation.
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For my fellow dog lovers out there, you’ll know that our slobbering, sleeping canine friends can have a canny side about them that’s hard to pin down but scientists are getting closer and closer each day, as the following study attests:
Researchers are finding more evidence that our dogs really do understand us: They can be calculating thieves. The study found that dogs are four times more likely to steal forbidden food when it’s dark in the room, meaning humans can’t catch them in the act, the BBC reports. That may suggest that the pups are aware of a change from the humans’ point of view, theorize researchers.
It’s “incredible because it implies dogs understand the human can’t see them, meaning they might understand the human perspective,” says an author. Researchers were careful to avoid trick links like dogs associating darkness with food availability, and it’s “unlikely that the dogs simply forgot that the human was in the room,” the scientists say. “Humans constantly attribute certain qualities and emotions to other living things,” the author adds. “These results suggest humans might be right, where dogs are concerned.”
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James Smith
February 17, 2013 at 8:13 am
They are absolutely sneaky. Not with only food, but getting toys and attention, too.
Michael John Scott
February 17, 2013 at 8:29 am
I know mine are. I have a Chocolate Lab that goes on “counter cruises” but only at night. If I should happen to leave out a loaf of bread it will gone by morning. He never does this during the day.
Greenlight
February 17, 2013 at 8:39 am
This story made me miss our little basset hound, whom I watched on multiple occasions as she hid bones by “burying” them around the house (under dog beds and other objects) so well that they couldn’t be detected, in order to save them for later and protect them from other dogs. It astonished me every time, as it requires thinking about the other dogs’ perspective AND has a component of long-term planning. She was a sneaky little thing. <3 R.I.P.
Michael John Scott
February 17, 2013 at 3:33 pm
Yes. She was a little thief, but a delightful one.
Jess
February 17, 2013 at 11:07 am
Mine doesn’t bring food but I will wake up almost daily to toys under the covers by both the dog and cats. Our bed looks like a kids playroom in the morning and they all have their own separate room for their stuff, but our bed is the best place to play. My cats are the counter squatters and thieves and that’s because I have their catnip sitting on the window ledge under a huge glass bowl to protect it. They think I don’t see their little paw prints all over the bowl in the am, but I see it and have to clean it ALL THE TIME.
Bill Formby
February 17, 2013 at 3:27 pm
There seems to be an understand in our home that Rascal has imposed. If no human is in the room everything is fair game. His table surfing is the smoothest I have ever seen. He once made a pot pie vanish, crust and all, and left the bowl where he found it. My other half accused me of eating because the little aluminum bowl didn’t seem to be disturbed. He is good. Also, and I don’t know if this common or not, if you give Rascal a piece of food he will take it and put it down and wait to see if there is a better offer before he eats it. Nah, he not spoiled.
James Smith
February 17, 2013 at 3:49 pm
I had a German Shepard once that got on the table and ate all the pieces for shish Kabob off the skewers without disturbing them. AT first, I thought I had forgotten to assemble them to take them t the grill, but I saw Colonel looking guilty. All I said was Colonel! He crept from the room low to the floor with his tail between his legs. It was the only time he got on the table, humans present or not. He knew the rules but was a wee short on will power.
Michael John Scott
February 18, 2013 at 10:35 am
I have a whole pack of those sneaky German shepherds James, and I know what you mean
James Smith
February 18, 2013 at 12:25 pm
What would help is if they were a little smarter and not do those things or a little less smart so they wouldn’t think of them.
Joe Hagstrom
February 17, 2013 at 4:57 pm
No box of Cocoa Puffs is safe in my house with that asshole 75lb evil genius beagle Dudley around.
I hate him and his fat, gluttonous ass but I do have a begrudging respect for his ability to get whatever he wants also.