Do you believe animals have a sense of humor? I mean, how much of an emotional life do pets have? Do they plot revenge?
At times their behavior suggests they are much more complex than we think. Two examples.
1) My daughter had a Rottweiller named Chico. He was a big solid dog. He scared a lot of people. He was definitely an outside dog. Any time he was inside, disaster usually followed.
One of his activities was chasing birds. We have a large Bing cherry tree in the back yard. When the fruit is ripe, the Starlings come around. He would wait in his doghouse, out of sight, and when a bunch of birds were on the ground, he would explode out of his doghouse and try to catch one. On more than one ocassion he was successful. It was amusing watching him.
What came next was a little frightening. He found that when the cherries weren't around, the birds would come around for his dry dog food. He would take his dish out in the back yard and scatter kibble around fairly close to his doghouse, get inside and wait.
The birds would come around, and he would ambush them. The implications of this are enormous. It was a learned behavior, not instinct. He was laying a trap. It required that he be able to create a plan, anticipate the future, and follow the plan. A very scary thing, this.
What if he started setting traps for larger prey? Scatter a few leggos out on the lawn and wait.
Or drop a couple of beers in plain sight?
2) I had a cat that stalked and attacked people. If you got up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water, he would wait around the corner and dash out and attack your feet unexpectedly, then run off. I once broke a toe trying to give him the boot after a ninja-cat attack.
I was nursing a broken toe, and he went by strutting. I could swear he was laughing. I also happened to be holding two six shooter rubber band guns at the time.
Revenge time.
As he went by with his tail in the air, I took aim and unloaded both guns. Startled the heck out of him. I scared several solid hits.
Hah! Attck me in the middle of the night will you? He came out of hideing a little later, and he threw me a look that was positively malevolent.
He avoided me the rest of the day.
When I got up[ the next morning and went to put on my shoes.
Squish.
Yeah, he shat in my shoe.
I swear I heard cat snickers.
8 comments:
Cats? Vindictive? NEVER!
Oh, wait. Yes they are.
If we're not home to feed ours by the designated fooding time, they poop on the bed. If the bed's not available, they poop right in front of the front door, so you smear it across the carpet when you come home. And one of them bites if you aren't petting him just the right way.
I maintain they're John's pets. I'm just waiting for a bigger apartment until I get a dog. Though after your story, I think I'll avoid a place with a cherry tree, delightful as it would be. The dogs in my life have been pretty smart, but your story takes the cake!
Sarah: One of my friends had a cat that when it got mad it would poop in the bed right next to his head. When he rolled over..........
"Or drop a couple of beers in plain sight?"
That one would've gotten me!
Oh yes, pets are DEFINITELY vindictive and smart. When my sister-in-law was a kid, her family had a poodle and almost every time they'd go away, this poodle would get mad and either poop or pee in their shoes.
I know, if I don't spend enough "quality" time with Jezebel before I go to bed at night, when I go to give her her treat right before I go to bed, she won't take it (and she LOVES her treats)...she turns her head completely away from me.
PQ: When we go someplace and have to have someone watch Molly, our Shi-Tzu, whenwe get back, she won't have anything to do with us for a couple of days.
Oh, they definately are "people-like".
We had a shih-tzu for many years (my sweetheart, Dusty) and you could never scold her. If you did, expect REAL tears. I mean, she would CRY... and not 'talk' to you for several days, no matter how you tried to make up with her. Not that she needed scolding often.
We have three shih-tzu's (one my daughter's) at home now and five cats. One cat cries at the bedroom door at night. I used to crack the door open and squirt her with a water bottle. Now, no matter how quietly I open the door, she sits just out of range... until I go back to bed! :)
They are way smarter than us humans give them credit for!
Sue: We had a cat, Willie, that would go around to every bedroom door in the morning and sit outside and meow until whoever was in the bedroom got up.
Then he would hit the couch and go to sleep. His job was done. This was fine during the week, but he just couldn't get the concept of "Weekend".
Anyone who thinks pets have no emotions and cannot think has never had a pet.
ncp: Yeah, but how far does their thinking go? Chico's actions at a higher level of functioning than "fetch". Complex enough that they imply "reasoning".
And that's kinda scarey.
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