Can dogs be described as "manipulative"???

Get to know other Positively members here.

Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost

Post Reply
bendog
Posts: 2188
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:42 am

Can dogs be described as "manipulative"???

Post by bendog »

Yesterday the sofa was full because OH was asleep on it, and I was sitting at the other end. Pops was whinging at me, and she had been walked, eaten, done plenty during the day, so I couldn't for the life of me figure out what she wanted. Eventually she lay down on the floor, just out of reach, and half rolled over which is her "I want tummy strokes" position - I melted, and thought, awww she just wants a cuddle, so I moved off the sofa to sit on the floor next to her to rub her tummy (which she loves, if she is in the mood for it, most of the time she will bark at you and kick you with her back legs if you stop to make you carry on!)

Well - little b*tch as soon as I got off the sofa immediately jumped on and settled in my spot! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :lol:
JudyN
Posts: 7018
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Dorset, UK
Contact:

Re: Can dogs be described as "manipulative"???

Post by JudyN »

Oh definitely! Jasper was once eyeing up an apple core I'd left next to me. After a while he went to the back door, barked, and when I got up to let him outside he belted back to where I'd left the apple core to pinch it. I've often read of dogs looking out the window and barking so another dog will get up off the sofa to see what's out there, at which the first dog claims the vacated and nicely warmed seat :lol:

I think it's just a sign of cleverness, though :wink:
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
lucyandbella
Posts: 304
Joined: Wed May 30, 2012 7:19 pm

Re: Can dogs be described as "manipulative"???

Post by lucyandbella »

Haha! Lucy has done the same thing! She loves coffee which I know is bad for dogs. She kept trying to get my coffee but I wouldn't let her. She then went to the door and hit the noise making button that means she needs to go outside. So I get up and as soon as my hand is on the door to open it she sprints back to where my coffee cup is and Is drinking as fast as she can! :lol:
Glen123
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2015 2:53 am
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Contact:

Re: Can dogs be described as "manipulative"???

Post by Glen123 »

Dogs, with their adorable puppy faces, are easily swayed by the actions of humans. A new study in PLoS ONE shows that dogs will prefer a plate of food preferred by a person, even if that plate has less food on it. Cats, on the other hand, have an especially annoying “solicitation” purr that they deploy when they want something from their owners, much like (though quieter than) a hungry baby that will not stop screaming. Pet owners who fancy themselves parents may actually be onto something.

Although babies can’t understand words, they are good at following body language and the gazes of their parents—what are called “ostensive cues.” Dogs do the same thing; when they see you looking in a particular direction, for example, they look there too. Researchers in this new study show that dogs made their decisions based on these ostensive cues as well. They began by presenting the dogs with two plates with unequal amounts of food. Then an experimenter would look at and pick up one plate, saying “Oh wow, this is good, this is so good!” (Not something we expect to hear in the context of an experiment but okay…) Left alone, dogs would pick the plate with more food, but they were willing to forgo the extra chow if humans showed more attention to the plate of less food. Good doggie.
Post Reply