Does your Doodle act ashamed?

[Erin]

We left her for a few hours one evening, and I when I came home, right in front of the door, was a chewed up ornament from the tree.  She has NEVER bothered with the tree before!  I came in the house and saw the carnage on the floor and said calmly, "Hershey, what did you do?"  And I got a little scared cause she wasn't at the door to greet me....

  She was hiding under the dining room table and refused to come out.  I didn't yell, I didn't act angry (mostly, cause she didn't really destroy the heirloom and it could be glued).  But she wouldn't come out from under the table for awhile!  As I was picking up pieces of the ornament,  she finally came out and looked me, and slinked over to the corner of the room and PEED ON THE CARPET! 

 

Hershey has never acted like this before - despite chewing up a number of items around our house that she finds when we leave her.  It's like every 8th time we leave her behind when we go some place that she'll find something to chew, so its not a huge problem, but still we try to keep things on higher shelves :o)

 

Do any of your doodle act ashamed or upset after you catch them when they've done something they know they shouldn't do??

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

That's what I was told. But the way that I think about it is that at the time the dog steals and chews up something he shouldn't have (or has the accident, or whatever the "bad" deed may be), he is not conscious of the fact that he is doing something wrong; it's an impulsive act. It might be triggered by the stress he feels in being left alone, but it isn't done deliberately in "revenge" for your having left, lol. (It's important to emphasize this, because so many people believe that the dog deliberately does something to retaliate for being left, and then point to the fact that the dog acts guilty when you return. "See, he knows he did wrong!")

Okay so back to my scenario: sometime after having committed the misdeed, the dog realizes that there is a pile of something that shouldn't be there. (And dogs are usually very aware of something that shouldn't be where it is in their environents, whether they had something to do with it's being there or not.)He connects the presence of this "pile" with the fact that every time there has has been a similar pile in the house when you got home, you have been upset. So he becomes anxious. When you come in, his behavior reflects this anxiety.

I am not at all sure that this is the way it works; but it's one theory, and it does make sense to me.

[Adina P]

That makes sense when it comes to potty accidents.  But there is still a small part of that that doesn't make complete sense.  In any case I'm sufficiently certain Rosco is not stressed due to our being gone.  I think the recent food stealing (and it is always edible stuff he's taken) has to do with a) discovery he CAN do it, b) insatiable appetite and it usually happens within the hour prior to his lunch or supper.  If Boca wasn't using Rosco's crate I'd crate him.  Last thing he took down off the dining room table was a box of Cheerios and ate whatever was left.  You might say 'why is there food within reach?'  Well I'm still learning what he is willing to go for.  First it was baked goods...with obvious aromas of yummy.  Then little by little he seems to take a stab at anything edible that he never would have touched for the past 4 years.  Now I scan the room thoroughly every time I leave.  I just wouldn't have even NOTICED  a cereal box before.  And even plates with a few bites left wouldn't have been touched.  It is very frustrating to have this develop now that Rosco's  almost 5..

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, here's an experiment you can do that will test out this theory. I contend that if there were no evidence of the misdeed, the dog would not act shameful and would greet you normally; that it is the presence of the evidence that is causing the dog to act like he knows he did something wrong, and not the actual act of doing something wrong. I believe this because I have had the experience that when a dog has stolen and entirely consumed something he should not have, from a place he should not have been, (like the garbage can or the kitchen table) he shows no guilt. How would I know that he even did something wrong? Let's just say that the "evidence" usually shows itself if you always pick up after your dog, lol. (And sometimes, it comes back up the way it went down.)

So here's the experiment: deliberately leave something like cheese or a piece of hotdog  on the dining room table and leave the house. See if Rosco stills reponds the same way upon your return, when there is nothing for you to see when you walk in.

Obviously, this will only work with a dog who has been trained not to touch things on the counters, tables, garbage, etc.

[Adina P]

I will grant that this may very well be true but I refuse to set him up to practice this on purpose.  At least not without some planned consequence (wish I had a video surveilance system in the house that I could watch him from and sound a loud horn or alarm when he attempts something like this.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Oh, I agree you shouldn't "set him up". There could be no consequence in this experiment.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Hmmm...I get "Page Not Found" when I click the link.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

okay--new link.  I will delete the comments and link above and edit them into this reply

Try this link and let me know if it works. 

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/11/18/intelligent.dog.psychology/

 

Adina and Karen you may be interested in this article and video--Inside The Science of How Dogs Think   Cognitive and Complex thinking in Dogs.

There are other articles that can be linked to this professor at Duke University.   This particular article mentions the way dogs think and how a dog views the consequences  of their actions.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

You can also get a .pdf file of Dr. Hare's Research Publications on Canine Behaviors at this address:

http://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/dogs/publications

[Melissa & Porter]

Methinks you are experiencing the tiny rebellion that older kids sometimes have when younger ones start taking up more "space"...either your daughter or Boca.  Why he's chosen now to test the limits, who knows.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Oh this "Doodles are extremely sensitive" hits home with me. Even when I am saying nothing to "clue" her in that I have had a bad day she recognizes it. She goes to work with me and if things are stressful she will go and lay in someone else s' office....usually the one that caused the stress and is oblivious to the fact. I love the signs because it allows me to "check" myself.
Daisy really never does anything on the sly....if she grabs something she is not supposed to have she actually brings it to our attention and tries to turn it into a game. That being said, she is rarely left alone to her own devices.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Rooney isn't old enough to be left out when we leave so we have never gone through this but I would love it if he would "tip me off" by looking guilty.  As a puppy he has no remorse what so ever.  As I was getting ready to go out to dinner Frid. evening he jumped up and grabbed my sweater that I was wearing putting a big tooth hole right in a brand new Eileen Fisher.  I was NOT happy and told him "no" but he just looked his usual happy self!

[Kathy Spyker]

Yes, I know when I walk in the door and Lillys not right their that she was up to something. I will see her peek around the corner and I say "What did you do"? and she hangs her head so low it just about touches the floor. She never destroys anything , she just gets in the trash can and drags stuff all over the floor. I try to remember to put it up before I leave,but unfortunately I remember after I have left the house.