|
I didn't say spite. I think spite is a little to complex, and involves forethought and rationalization that dogs don't do. I do know Missy "acts out" when I don't provide what she wants in a timely fashion. (ie: if she wants to go out, and I'm laying on the couch ((not lazy, just had surgery)), she will whine at me, then paw me, then jump up and down on top of me until I get up. And if I don't, she'll go get my fuzzy cow slipper and prance back and forth in front of me, to be sure I see and know she's got it. Then if I still don't respond, she'll drop it and go do whatever.) I'd call that acting out. But, TinyAlbinoDancer, why not anger? Anger is a pretty elemental emotion. Aren't they angry when they're fighting? They may not be able to think in a two-step process. If they eat bad meat and get ill, they know they're ill, but not necessarily that the meat made them sick. If they're in a dog fight (god forbid), adreniline is pumping and I'd have to call it anger. They can make the connection between pain and what is causing it, and they certainly know it is the other dog causing the pain, and so are they not angry at whatever is causing them pain? But maybe I do get it now. We're using the only words we've got to try and describe what we believe they're feeling/thinking. I don't think our mistake is attributing these emotions to them. The mistake is expecting a response like ours would be to any given situation. They don't deal with, nor do they always express these emotions in the same ways we do.
|