Can dogs be deceptive? And if so, do they use that skill to get what they want? I started thinking about this after reading about a new study, that’s gotten a lot of press, that suggests dogs, unlike some primates and young children, ignore people who give them bad advice about where to find some food. (See a summary in the New Scientist.) The author suggested that the dogs might perceive the person giving the advice as lying, but I’m a tad skeptical of that conclusion based on what little I could read of the study.
But it does bring up the interesting question of whether dogs themselves use deception. We know that deception in animals is not uncommon. Some types of deception are passive, with no cognitive component, like walking stick insects that look like, you guessed it, sticks.
Examples of more active deceptions include animals who play dead, like opossums. I could put in a photo of a opossum doing so, a truly impressive example of faking it that has fooled even those of us who know about it, but I found a different example in Wikipedia. You may know already that I love frogs and toads (I was distraught when I stepped on Ms. Toad last night. I didn’t see her in the dark when taking the dogs out to pee. But this morning I found that she recovered and am ecstatic about it. Seriously. ) But now I have a new love–Burmeister’s Leaf Frog, who also plays dead as an anti-predator defense.
I don’t think this would work well with people, because many of us (raise your hand) would want to pick it up and cuddle it.
Then, of course, there’s intentional deception, which requires strategic thinking and a high level of cognition. One example made famous by Frans de Waal is the female chimp who screamed during copulation with the alpha male, but kept it quiet when sneaking a copulation with another lower-ranking chimp.
There is so much one could say about this, but it’s better said to close friends after a glass of wine. Feel free to discuss among your friends.
But what about dogs? Do dogs practice strategic deception? Could they decide to lie about something to gain an advantage? It looks like they can, and do, at least on occasion. Here’s a study from 2017 that supports that: The dogs learned that there were juicy sausages in one box, boring dry treats in another, and nothing in the third. Each dog worked with two different people–one gave them what was inside the box if the dogs led them to it, the other person kept the treats for themselves. Afterward, the dog’s owner then gave the dog whatever food was in the box that the dog chosen.
Sure enough, the dogs more often than not led the uncooperative people to an empty box, then waited for their owner and went to the box with the sausages. Translation? “You gonna take what I lead you to? Then I’m gonna lead you to a big box of nothing.”
The study was done and conceived by Marianne Heberleinat the University of Zurich in Switzerland, and was motivated by the observation that one of her dogs “pretended” to see something in the back yard, barked at it, and then swooped in to take over a favorite sleeping place. This seems to be the most common example of deception in the world of canines. I wrote about a similar example (a fox this time) in an article I wrote for the Bark Magazine, “Honest as the Day is Long.”
I’ve heard from many friends and clients about dogs who wanted a bone or a sleeping place, went to the door to bark at seemingly nothing, and then went back to claim the prize while the other dog was distracted. I’d love to hear what you think and your experiences. If you have multiple dogs, has one done something to distract another in order to get access to an object or place? Any other examples of potential deception in your dogs? It’ll be great fun to read what you’ve observed.
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: Hay delivered! It’s a wonderful day in Wisconsin when a wagon of gorgeous, alfalfa-rich hay is delivered. Jim and I and two others (thank you Randy and Jacob) unloaded and stacked 209 bales of hay last week. At about 35 pounds bale, that’s each of us handling over 3 tons of hay in about an hour on a hot and humid day. Yeah, we were tired.
We’ve got quite a bit of hay left over from last year, so we’ll be in good shape for the winter. We always have wonderful scenes like this one below when we open the “windows” to be sure the hay is dry.
I’m feeling so lucky to have our “woods walk” here on the farm. It’s not all that long, but it’s full of interesting smells for the dogs and interesting sights for me, like this dead shagbark hickory tree that is fighting gravity.
There’s a lot of wildlife activity this time of year on the farm. Here’s the last brood of barn swallows, a few days from being ready to fledge.
The Japanese Anemone is blooming now, one of my favorite flowers of the summer. Only problem is it is taking over the astilbe; I’ve got to get out there and trim it back. But it’s soooo hot as I write this; it feels like a sauna. It’s about all I can do to walk the dogs and work them on sheep early in the day.
That’s it for this week; I can’t wait to hear about your observations about dogs being deceptive (or not). I hope your week is a good one, and I ain’t lying.
Bruce says
Oh gosh yes, dogs are quite capable of strategic deception. It is nice that research has proven this scientifically, but my years with dogs leave no doubt. Some examples:
My first dog was a master psychologist. When we first started training, she convinced me she was the dumbest dog in the universe. I would patiently work through “sit” exercises (saying “Sit!” and gently putting her in position, this was before I learned about using positive rewards). After umpteen repetitions I would say “Sit!” and she would look at me as if to say, “Dude, I’d love to help you out but I have no earthly idea what you want.”
Spoiler alert: she knew exactly what I wanted. This is the same dog that taught herself “Shake hands” at a party, once she realized that people would voluntarily part with food if she offered her paw.
Second dog was sweet and simple, but even he attempted deception. He learned that he would get attention and sympathy if he limped after getting bumped during rough play. Being sweet but not super-bright, he would often forget which leg was “hurt” and limp on the wrong leg.
That leaf frog is quite adorable, but I have always found reptiles more cuddle-able than amphibians. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.
Timaran says
Ronan does exactly what you described to Tamsen. If she has a favorite toy that he wants, Ronan will suddenly run over to the sliding glass door, barking loudly. Tamsen jumps up and runs to the door to see what’s happening while Ronan happily snags the toy. I suppose it would be anthropogenic of me to add that he seems to have a pretty smug look on his face, too.
Margaret says
A dog-friend taught her mini poodle to ring a bell to go outside to pee. He started ringing the bell when he spotted squirrels through the window, so he could get out to chase them away.
Not sure if I’d class this as deception or tool use.
Kat says
I haven’t noticed D’Artagnan trying to deceive anyone so far, unless you count his claims that his bowl was empty when we gave it to him, but Ranger definitely used it. My favorite story about him using deception took place when he was playing with his best pal, a RottiDaneAdor (Rottweiler, Great Dane, Labrador). The pal had a stick about an inch diameter and roughly three feet long. Ranger wanted the stick and his pal wouldn’t give it to him or share. Ranger found a twig roughly the size of a pencil and made a big production about how wonderful it was including resource guarding it when the pal came to investigate. The pal kept trying to get in there to see what Ranger had that was so wonderful and after a bit Ranger pretended to be distracted so his friend swooped in and grabbed the twig abandoning the big stick. While the pal was trying to figure out why anyone would want this pencil sized twig Ranger took the big stick, chewed it in half, gave half to his pal (put it near where the pal was) and settled down to gnaw on his half. His pall thought about it for a minute, picked up his half and settled down nearby to gnaw on his half. Not only did Ranger trick his pal out of the desired resource but once it was in his possession divided it so they could each have some. It’s small wonder that Ranger was the clear leader in any group of dogs he found himself in–he was smart and fair.
Diane says
I am not sure if this is falls into deception.
My last dog was very reliable off leash. We went to the park after a heavy rain and the retention pond was filled with water…and geese.
I typically pay full attention to him especially when he is off leash, but I received a phone call from a friend with whom I haven’t talked for a while.
So I’m talking and not giving 100% attention to my dog. He starts sniffing the ground while looking up at me once in a while, but he is continuously getting closer and closer to the water and the geese. I somewhat guessed that he was thinking of going for it and he did….suddenly rushing into the water bolting like a porpoise toward the geese.
I don’t know if the sniffing behavior was aimed at deceiving me or the geese, but it won him a bath that’s for sure.
Always enjoy your posts and pictures, and a little envious of those farm walks which sound delightful
Frances says
Our family poodle also discovered that limping gained her special attention – or perhaps it would be truer to say my younger sister reinforced limping to the point that it became an offered behaviour. My parents were on holiday, my sisters and I were at home looking after the animals, and Polly had a slight limp one day. She was coddled and cuddled and fed treats and taken to the vet, who could find nothing wrong (and it has to be admitted that she certainly didn’t limp as she headed for home as fast as possible). This went on for weeks until my mother came home and called her bluff – my sister returned to college and Polly made an instant recovery. Until the Christmas vacation, when after joyously greeting my returning sister she started limping, but on the other leg…
I don’t think my two practice deliberate deception – they are more inclined to ask me to mediate if they want a particular bed or other resource. They do fib to the neighbours about being starving, though – to see them blag treats you would swear that they had not been fed for a week!
Julie says
We had two female littermates and the alpha Torie would not let her sister Libby join me and her on the sofa. Libby learned to get a squeaky toy out, which caused Torie to jump down to take the toy. Libby immediately abandoned the toy to jump up on the sofa. Torie would return to the sofa but was fine with Libby being there (not having intruded while Torie was in that space). Libby used this technique for years; Torie never figured it out.
Jantien Meesters says
My first aussie, Mokai, tricked repeatedly his best friend by pretending interest in something ’very important’. She would leave the stick to sniff out that ‘very important’ something an Mokai would snatch the stick. After she was duped 3 or 4 times, she kept the stick with her.
Charlotte Kasner says
I love your alfalfa hay – wish we could add the scent to the image! Takes me right back to teaching riding in MI more years ago than I care to recall.
I have friends who now live in Bellaire, MI and they used to own a big Lab bitch. They were working in a country club somewhere near Traverse City and Jenny had free run of the property. Being adept at looking adorable, she began to get a bit porky as the guests fed her treats, so my friends asked them to stop. Not long after, they saw Jenny walking round with her dinner bowl in her mouth collecting the treats. Doesn’t count as being directly fed, right?
What I would like to have seen is the steps in between that led her to work out that she could get people to reward her for presenting them with her bowl.
After my last dog died, a friend sent me a video clip that she had found of him playing with her dog (who tragically died just three weeks after Vadim. He was 11 and had liver cancer but she was only 4 and ingested something toxic out on a leash walk). It clearly shows her distracting him so that she could steal his toy. He had a clear startle response when he realised that the toy was not where he left it but in her mouth. Great memory to have preserved.
Ingrid Lind-Jahn says
Ah! The old bark-and-sneak strategy! When I was in high school, my family had two terriers. The younger (less smart) one would occasionally get the prime spot on someone’s lap, and when the older (smarter and more devious) one would perk up his ears and lift his head, dash into another room, bark at the window…and then come sauntering back to claim the newly-vacated lap.
I don’t know if this was so much deception as it was creativity. We had a golden retriever a while back who loved apples. He learned quickly how to let us know when he needed to go outside to pee, and he figured out just as quickly that he could use it as an excuse to go outside and lie under the apple tree, snacking. We figured that one out pretty fast too.
That golden also loved tomatoes. Again, I don’t know if this is outright deception, but we would take him out back (we have several acres, and rent out a couple fields). He would go running off into one of the cropped fields, double back, sneak around into the front field, work his way around to the side closest to our garden, and then get into the tomatoes. (Once we figured that one out, we would just go to the garden and wait for him to show up.)
Dogs can be creative and entertaining!
Jane Haynes says
My Labrador Cora is very pushy about being first in line for affection, and she will shove her uncle Quinn out of the way to get the most out of a love fest with me or my husband. Quinn is older and much wiser than Cora, so knowing that she would rather play with him than anything, he has developed a fool proof pattern for getting the love he craves too. When his or my efforts fail to move her wiggly, waggly booty to make room for him, he finds his favorite toy – a squeaky latex pig – and, at the other end of the room, tosses it in mid air, bounces and barks at it. She can’t resist this seduction and bounds over to him to join in the fun. He is smart enough to engage with her for a minute or so – and then he sidles over to me for attention and scritches. Quinn is a gentleman retriever from head to toe. His motto is “Make love, not war.”
Rachel Lachow says
My 9yo Pharaoh Wren frequently deceives her 2yo Pharaoh housemate Ivy. Though Wren is not that interested in toys anymore, she make a great show of playing with one so that Ivy, sleeping peacefully next to me on the couch, will rush to take it away from her. Then Wren takes over the coveted seat next to me. We find it hysterical.
Marcia McGinnis says
Our senior golden retriever was not interested in toys anymore but we had a new PBGV puppy who was happy to have all of them. The GR, however, would grab any toy and squeak it over and over, making the PBGV “want it.” The GR would give it up, and when the PBGV “stole” the toy, the GR would grab another toy and squeak it, again taunting the puppy.
Our 2 PBGVs have been training in scent work, and I believe one of them will deceive me into believing that the target hide is in one box or location when it is actually in another. They are rewarded with a treat when they find the hidden scent, so she will “alert” even when there isn’t anything! One judge called it a “failure to commit” but I think it is a need for more training. She will tap her foot on an empty box and look at me as if saying “this one!” Frustrating!
Carole says
Both the fake limping and the barking at nothing seem to be common deceptions. We had a Poodle that limped to get attention. Since he was adopted as an adult dog, we first assumed he had a real injury. It wasn’t until he started switching legs that we realized it was a scam. My beloved Dane, Sabrina, used the “OMG! Look what’s out there in the front yard!” barking to get every other dog in the house scrambling to see what danger was imminent. While they were searching for the threat, she took favored toys or sofa space. Her best fake out was when my husband jumped up to see what she was barking at, then turned to see her sprawled in his spot on the couch. He was not amused.
Lane says
Lace had been designated as Peter’s girl since before birth, and she knew she was. Our other GSD, Cassiopeia, had a hard rubber ball that she loved tending. Lace took the ball one evening, just because she could, which unsettled Cassie for a few minutes. Then Cass appeared to forget about the ball and went over to Peter, lavishing him with attention and wags. Lace immediately left her bed and the ball and butted in. Cassie pivoted, pounced on the ball, took in to her bed, and lay there contentedly for the rest of the evening.
But my favorite deception is a laugh on me. My dogs all have had a strong distant sit and respond to “get off the road” or “car coming,” so that I have felt comfortable walking them off leash anywhere in our rural neighborhood. As Merlin and I returned from a walk one day, I spotted the manager of some conservation land across the road, pulling up to inspect a beaver dam. I needed to talk to him and headed that way, but was dismayed to see his ~5-y-o daughter get out of the pickup. Staring children that size often triggered very sharp, “You mind your manners, kid!” barking from Merlin, an ACD mix. So I left him in a sit-stay well up the road and went down to talk to Ian, turning frequently to make sure Merlin was holding that sit. Each time, he looked brightly at me and wagged his tail in the dust as I praised him.
Then the little girl looked up at me and announced that she had a question. “Why does your dog walk closer whenever you’re not looking? she asked. I whirled, and there sat my bright-eyed scoundrel, wagging his tail in the dust–a good 30 feet this side of where I’d left him.
Kathy Griffin says
The smell of alfalfa
a barn full of hay
I always felt so rich and so happy
When my barn was full.
Thank you for that memory
Julie H. says
Not exactly deception but similar thought process? I was taking care of someone’s new Lab puppy at my house while they were at work. Our back yard had a concrete path dividing the vegetable garden from the lawn. My adult dogs knew to stay out of the garden and I was trying to teach the puppy to stay out. She was starting to understand, so one day she was walking slowly along the path when she turned her head and slyly looked over her shoulder at me, then dashed straight into the garden, did a couple puppy zoomies and came right back out looking very proud of herself! It was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.
My older border collie doesn’t have to be deceptive with her housemates. If she wants their toy she just stands quietly a few feet away and . . . waits. They are always intimidated by “The Queen, Owner of All Toys” and will drop the toy and walk away.
Susan Johansen says
To gain access to a preferred resting spot that was already occupied, one of my dogs would find the other’s favorite toy and either bring it to me for us to play with or he would simply play with it himself. This always got the other dog’s attention and the the dog would move off of the coveted spot to go play. With the desired spot now open the clever dog (isn’t that a nicer way of framing the ” deception”) occupied it! This worked every time.
Elaine says
Had to laugh at this! Years ago I had a dog Shadow who would bark and start to run out to the backyard. . . apparently to get our other dog to go running off “chasing”. But it wasn’t for a bone or place to sleep – we think it was just for fun! Kind of like, “made you look” only we could just about hear Shadow thinking “made you run!” It makes me smile just thinking about it.
M.H. D. says
On occasion my neighbor took my late, great, geriatric Dutch Shepherd, Jiri, for a day when I was out of town. He had one dog then, Jubay. There were two dog beds in the living room in which my neighbor sat to observe each dog. Both were let outside in the fenced back yard. When they came in Jubay took the cushier bed. So Jiri stood in front of the bed and Jubay, no vocalization or scuffle, just staring. Jubay looked to the right, the left, up and down, anything to avoid Jiri’s steady gaze. Eventually Jubay up and moved, so my neighbor got a photo of the triumphant Jiri occupying the better bed.
Jiri has confessed to an animal communicator, who’s always been correct, that he liked to be a bully but that he has come to realize that it’s not a good thing.
Kathleen says
I had an extremely clever Aussie who did a great deceive once……she always slept on a dog bed next to my side of the bed, and my Corgi slept on the other side. One night the Corgi came in at bedtime and decided to sleep in the bed on my side. My Aussie, Kiwi, came in right after and stopped short with a surprised look on her face to see said Corgi in her favorite bed! Kiwi looked at the other bed, then back at the Corgi (who moves off for no dog), and turned around and left the bedroom with purpose. I heard her go into the living room and moved around in there for a minute, then to the kitchen, then upstairs to the office! Couldn’t figure out what she was doing but waited to see……. After hearing her moving around in the office for a bit, she comes running downstairs and back into the bedroom – with the Corgi’s favorite toy!!! This is a toy Kiwi basically never played with, and she bounced around shaking the toy in sight of the corgi, but across the room. Then she dropped the toy and backed off. Well, the Corgi immediately rushed out to get ‘his’ toy! And Kiwi rushed to the bed and laid down!! Corgi grabbed the toy and turned around to go back to the bed, only for it to be his turn to look surprised! LOL
What truly amazed me was not only the planned deception, but the fact that Kiwi searched the whole house for that particular toy. She passed up many other toys in her search of all the rooms, and brought the other dog’s favorite toy! It blew me away!!
My friend used to have a Pom that learned to be deceptive in order to stay outside sniffing around longer. My friend had good recalls on her dogs, but would ‘allow’ her dogs to not respond immediately if they had to potty. So one of her dogs figured out she didn’t have to come if she squatted to pee right after being called. She then started squatting briefly if she didn’t want to come in right away. Took my friend a while to figure out the dog was faking peeing!
Cheryl says
I had a dog Chelsea, a sheltie mix. Initially she was able to come to work with me, then it was prohibited, she had to stay home. We commuted to work by subway. My morning routine was to let her out-she stayed around the house and then call her in. New Years eve, I called her in-she did not come. I left for work. The subway is 1 mile from my house which I walked to and when the subway station was in view, I saw my dog happily running from the subway to greet me-she got to go to work that day. There were two ways for a human to get to the subway. So I did an experiment and went a different way then before and sure enough she met me at the subway-she went to work with me again. I could not figure out how she did it. I never saw her when walking. I’m assuming she ran through people’s yards. The next day when calling her in the morning I did an intense search and found her hiding under my neighbors bush. Busted! She apparently was watching me and waiting for me to leave and then high tailed it to subway, a route unknown to me. BTW she had to cross several streets to get there and we are talking Boston. End of story, my employers relented and Chelsea came to work with me everyday!
June Kloubec says
Our family cat, Clio, also used a deception similar to the ones reported on her brother, Fritz. Dinner would be served and she would suddenly bolt to the door leaving him no option but to follow to investigate. Eventually, something of interest did show up leaving him at the door watching while she sauntered back to the food dish. After a bit, he would remember dinner return to his dish, and be surprised to find it empty. As with others, she did this pretty consistently for years and never figured it out.
Clio had been found as a young cat malnourished, undersocialized, and frozen to a garage floor with frost-bitten ears and paws. We always assumed that the trauma in her early life had predisposed her to this food behavior.
I never thought of it as deception, but can see that as a pretty clear pattern now. She also repeatedly used the same tactics during play (hiding in a bag and lunging out at him) and during grooming, allowing him to groom her and then attacking him. He never learned and she never stopped using the same tactics for about 15 years.
Sandy says
Betsy Ross, our first standard poodle, was able to gather both Christmas bones by scratching at the ground to get Lacy, our German shepard’s , attention. Worked every time.
Now we have Clover, a poodle puppy mill rescue, who pretends the house is under attack when she wants to come back inside. She flies across the yard barking fiercely , then stops and looks back at the house to see if the door is opening.
LisaW says
Our Golden, Ester, would do what Ranger did–if she wanted what anther dog had, she would find something else so incredibly desirable and fun and delicious, the other dog would come to investigate, and Ester would “give” it to them, and then go get what she wanted in the first place. This always worked out because the other dog thought they had gotten the prize (Ester’s valuable), and Ester had what she wanted. Smart and peaceful.
More amazing to us was our dog, Grace, who was incredibly prey-driven, fast, and lithe. We often took the dogs for a walk in mixture of woods, wetlands, and hills, and on this particular day, we stopped on a knoll to look below at the swamp. Grace started digging at a small hole, and as we watched, she’d dig and scratch and dig, and then run about three feet away and wait. She had found a ground hog den, and somehow knew that if she disturbed one hole, they just might run out the other. She’d wait and if nothing happened, she’d run to the first hole, dig some more and run to the other and wait. Luckily, no one was home, and we would have intervened but watching this was really interesting. She had not exhibited this behavior before, we didn’t have ground hogs at home. To this day, I don’t know how she knew this and knew it so precisely (unless she was sneaking downstairs at night and watching Wild Kingdom).
P. J. Grath says
Our late, great Sarah learned after a while that we didn’t care to have her running up the hill to her friends’ house all the time. It was fine when the dogs played together between the houses, but we wanted Sarah to know that our house was her home, so we discouraged running up the hill when the neighbor dogs weren’t in sight. After a while, she figured out that we didn’t call her back if she went in another direction, so she would “pretend” she was only exploring in the weeds between the barn and the henhouse, but the first thing we knew we’d see her halfway up the hill the other way, heading for a visit with her dog pals. She had circled all around the barn in her subterfuge.
Gayla says
I value honesty above all other traits, (except kindness) and have a zero tolerance for a lie, or a liar.
But I’m not sure about labeling these maneuvers as deceptions. Do dogs really understand the concept of true or false? If we take away our own perception of that, it seems more simply ABC. If this happens (A) and I do this (B) then (C) is the result.
We had a GSP that was severely injured and cold when I found her. For the rest of her life, if I said, “Daisy are you hurt?” she would lift one leg and look sad. Likewise, if I asked her if she was cold, she would shiver. (The full body shivering was hysterical.) Both earned delight, sympathy and or a blanket tucked around her. I never thought of it as lying, – just a cue, like any other.
Tucker Margaret says
My lab mix bullies her younger housemate. She has him so intimidated that if she lies in front of a doorway he won’t come in, but stays outside and barks.
Stacey says
As a professional dog walker, I have observed at least one puppy who appeared to occasionally fake peeing to get a treat. They would squat and look up at me, but had not actually peed.
Trisha says
This is a great question Gayla. I suspect (more research, more research!) that the examples (very common) of dogs barking out the window as if there was something there is the closest to true deception. Do we know what’s in the dog’s mind when it does that? No, and I should add that deception in animals is controversial (of course it is! what isn’t now?) But the fox barking to scare her pups back into the den is generally considered a good example of it occuring in nature. I questioned on Facebook if playing with a toy to suck another dog into leaving X and then playing with Y might not be deception, but it’s damned smart.
Emerson Dahmen says
Our terrier/hound mix Tessa was a super-serious hunter–would dig out a chipmunk tunnel by tearing out roots with her teeth that she couldn’t dig through with paws.
At one point we had a pallet of construction materials covered with a sheet of plywood and a pursued squirrel would hide under the plywood. Tessa wasn’t large and strong enough to drag the plywood away, but she learned to bite, lift and drop one edge of the plywood and then run around to the other side to catch the exiting squirrel.
Jenny Haskins says
Like children some dogs are consummate liars. Some are naively honest.
But by and large they will learn to lie IF they get away with it.
I have found more lying with dogs that I took on as adults.
The best (worst?) one was Fletch. I too him on as a 7 year old, Ex Plant Nursery dog. If I yelled for him to come away from something, he would slink around the house and appear from the opposite direction with a really overacted look of injured innocence,
Leslie Buscher says
When my 9 yr old Golden/Lab therapy dog was a puppy, he would lay face to face with his older Golden brother who had a bone. Sometimes he would get lucky and the other dog would get distracted and he was able to steal the bone. When that didn’t happen, he would run to the door and bark (at nothing) which would make his brother jump up to see what was happening. The puppy would then run back, grab the bone and disappear out the doggy door.
Carolyn says
As with others, I don’t know if you would consider this deception or not, but I had a dog-walking friend who would invite a bunch of us over post walk for cheese and crackers and drinks. One of her dogs, a yellow lab, was a champion food stealer. When we were all sitting around talking he would relax politely as the other dogs. However, if there was a second when he knew no one was watching, he would steal the cheese and crackers. This would happen if someone else came to the house and knocked on the door so the people and dogs went to the door. This dog didn’t go to the door, he cleaned up the food. But he knew when no-one was watching so we always had to have a guard watching him. My friend came to my niece’s graduation party with her dogs and brought a cake. The minute no one was watching the food table, the lab jumped up and grabbed half the cake his human brought!
Cindy k Jensen says
Recently got an English Shorthair puppy and she seemed to go outside so much to urinate that we had a urine tested on her as one other puppy we had years ago had a urinary tract infection and also urinated a lot. Came back negative and we realized that getting a treat when she came in could be causing her “urinating problem.” Stopped the treats and she still wanted outside. Noticed her not peeing at times (straining). Checked another urine and she has an infection now. BUT many of my friends reported that their puppies stopped the behavior when they no longer got the treats. Couple of lessons learned here!
Susan Wroble says
Hathaway, our 12 year old therapy dog (Lab mix) has always practiced deception. If another dog is getting attention and petting, Hathaway will pick up the nearest toy and make a huge show of it, convincing the pup that she has the greatest thing in the world. But the second the pup takes over the toy, Hathaway moves in to get the love!
Martin says
I used to have a Golden Retriever named Dolce who loved apples. There are lots of apple trees here, and she kept coming up with new methods of sneaking them on walks. Once she was particularly clever. It was dark, so she was able to snag one and carry it all the way home without anyone seeing. She deposited it in the hallway, then went into my sibling’s room, acting the way she often did when she had contraband – slinking, turning her face away, etc. My sibling looked into her mouth, but it was empty. Dolce relaxed and went back to the hallway to eat her apple. If it hadn’t made a crunching sound, she would have gotten away with it.
I think it was an elaborate scheme, but there are other possible explanations that do not require intentional deception.
Sometimes I wonder if there were schemes she did pull off. Obviously, there’s no way for me to know.
Gayla says
Sigh. (If we assume they can communicate with each other, and most here do.) Of course Trisha is right. There’s really no other way to interpret the common ploy of; ‘Hey, hey, hey! Stranger Danger!! It’s a boldfaced, intentional lie…
I think I’m in emotional denial… LOL!
Claudette Mo says
I’m glad to hear my observation of dog deception being quite common and not something I had imagined. One of my 3 poodles at the time, 3 generations represented by grandma, daughter and granddaughter, was the expert in running to front door and barking as if there was someone at the door, if the other 2 had a chewie treat. The 2 younger ones always fell for it, and grandma would quickly pick up one of the treats left behind. I thought it was a clever deception!
Jackie d says
My Springer used to trick my BC mix by pretending she wanted to play. She’d do play bows, pat him on the head with her paw, bounce around, but then as soon as he stood up to play she’d lie down on his bed and look very pleased with herself. He fell for it every time.
Susan H says
Many of my dogs have used deception to ‘dupe’ one of the others from their possesion, whether it was toy or a treat. My current 4 dogs also like to think they can outsmart me (sometimes they do!) However, they have not figured out that there were more dogs before I had them and I have learned all of their tricks! They do the run to the door and bark and take another’s bone. IF I let them go outside to potty, they will run halfway down the walk to the yard and run back inside, as they know they get a treat. So they go the second time I open the door, knowing they will get another treat….I am onto them! Treats are very samll for a reason!
Ilene Segal says
My first Dalmatian Baloo was the smartest and most devious dog I have ever shared my life with. One of his favorite tricks was to get another dog to chase him around, and when he got them going very fast, he would run directly at a tree and at the last minute veer out of the way, leaving the other dog to run into it head first. Then he would laugh. The love of my life – sorry to my husband…
Melanie Hawkes says
Upton does the bark at the door or window then runs to the mat where his Pet Tutor is. If I didn’t hear or see anything then I don’t reinforce. Some evenings, after dinner, he’ll bark to go outside to toilet, hoping for more food! I only give in if he’s done it in the correct place AND without barking at the fence. Talk about training the dog 😆
muttzrule says
When I was growing up, my papillon mix Mickey played a trick on my mom. Mickey loved rawhide chews but (sorry, TMI warning) they tended to constipate her. Mother began to pick them up when they were half chewed and put them away for awhile, then give them back as an occasional treat (back in the days before we learned of better chews for dogs than rawhides). So Mickey started hiding them around the house before Mother got to them. Open a closet door to get the vacuum, there’s a rawhide where Mickey had pushed it under the door to retrieve later. Or we’d catch her pawing behind a chair cushion where she had stuffed one. It was so cute and funny and smart of her, that the ongoing battle of wits became a fun game for us.
Years later, partners in crime Scout and Meg had a sneaky backyard demolition project. They and the neighbor dogs sometimes dug under the fence in pursuit of the wild rabbits who lived under the shed and traveled through the yards. We would cover their excavation sites with some heavy object like stacked garden pavers or a bucket filled with rocks and bricks until we had time to fill them in. One day it seemed the dogs were unusually quiet out there and I went to check on them. They had figured out that if they chewed small pieces from the top of a plastic bucket, as they whittled it down the rocks fell out and the bucket got light enough for them to push over! It was about half its former height, surrounded by rocks and little plastic bits. Fortunately no one swallowed any plastic or cut themselves on a rough edge. I was so impressed by their problem solving skills that I couldn’t be angry despite the mess. Maybe not so much deceptive (they had to know they’d be found out eventually), just clever!
Juanita Mercure says
I had that once in a lifetime dog or one in a million dog. Brandy was a Golden Retriever we found as a 6-8 month old puppy surviving in the mountains on what ever he could catch or scavenge. He chose me out of the 7 of us in my family and I had him for 15 1/2 wonderful yrs from high school, college, grad school, and beyond. I have had many dogs over the years and I know they are capable of deception because of Brandy. I think their ability to be deceptive is linked to how intelligent the dog is. Maggie the female golden that we had at the same time was not too bright and never showed any deception.
My family and anyone who met him would say Brandy was almost human. I have so many amazing stories of things he did that would amaze. But in regards to deception Brandy had multiple times deceived not another animal but humans. To pick one of these times …… I had just gotten home from a day at the lab in grad school and made myself a grilled chicken sandwich. I was sitting on the floor with my legs crossed eating my sandwich in front of the TV like a little kid. Brandy, in true fashion of a golden was sitting next to me face to face mooching for a bit of my sandwich. I turned to him for the third time and said, “Brandy, No.” He looked at me, got up, walked around to the closet door where we kept the kitchen trash. This door slid back and forth on wheels at the top (not barn doors) and as such swung in and out at the bottom. I often wonder how he knew that the sound that door would make on the trash bag simulated the sound of getting into the trash.
Oblivious that my incredibly intelligent dog was intelligent enough to trick me, I set my plate with my half eaten chicken sandwich, on the floor and ran through the Livingroom to the front door to stop Brandy from getting in the trash. The second I got to where I could see that the door to the closet where we kept the trash was closed, I knew, Brandy tricked me. When I got up to run to stop him, my amazing wonderful dog ran threw the kitchen to my plate on the floor. As I turned around to look back at my plate on the floor all I saw was Brandy sitting next to my plate swallowing the last of the sandwich.
I do not know how this does not clearly illustrate that dogs are indeed capable of deception. I know that the many stories I have of my time with Brandy, clearly illustrate an incredibly intelligent dog capable of some higher thinking, problem solving, and comprehension.
With Brandy began my love of Golden Retrievers. I know that none of the three goldens since Brandy have shown the same level of intellect. Not Ben who could problems solve anything to get to something he wanted. Not Luke who knows instantly when he meets someone whether he needs to remain calm and peaceful (my sister undergoing chemo with a lot of pain) or he can display the joy and exuberance of life he normally has. But what I have found is the more intelligent the dog is the more they seem capable of displaying behavior showing intelligence we have thought them not capable of before.
Thea says
Yes!!! We never thought Daphne (adolescent staffy bull terrier) was too smart — snuggly and affectionate and funny for sure, but lacking in common sense. Then one evening we the humans were sitting together on the couch. She went to the front door and made her little “need to pee” hoo-hoo-hoo noises so I sighed and got up and got her leash… and immediately she jumped up on the couch next to husband and took my spot!
She has also used her nose to bury her poop with pine straw, which may be another kind of deception or at least sneakiness.
Adrienne says
When my pup barks outside at the delivery man or the neighbors, I immediately call him inside for a treat. He has great recall and I almost always give him something special. That said, on nice fall or spring days when I leave the door open, he’s decided that all he needs to do to get a treat is run out onto the porch, bark, and then turn around and run back inside. He’s no fool! (And it doesn’t hurt that I’m sucker.)