Are dogs capable of deception?

 Define deception. I think that the idea of deception may vary from person to person.

For example - I find my dogs deceptive when they are all chewing bones - then one dog gets up to go get a drink of water - one of the other dogs will go steal the bone while the dog is away - then come running to me, knowing that the other dog is going to retaliate. The look on the stealers face clearly indicates that he knows what he did was sneaky but he's going to try to get away with it anyway.

If deception is not telling the truth - like blaming the cat, then no. 

 

Deception as in "covering their tracks"? Rascal does this all the time (little stinker, heh). He's not allowed on our bed without permission, but he looooooves the bed,  so if we leave the bedroom he'll often sneak in and jump up. He then completely buries himself under the covers, so he's invisible, and then stays dead silent the whole time he's there. Someone comes to the door, you drop food in the kitchen and call him, shake his food container, nothing. He doesn't move a muscle. But if you go in the bedroom, flip over the covers, and "expose" him, even if you let him stay there, he's back to his alert dog self. He's just worried about getting caught!
 

I don't think so.  My dogs will take things from each other, or off the counter when I'm not looking, but I think that they think in the moment "oh a bone! I want!".  I think to really deceive you have to be aware of how that can hurt the other person.  If Kenya steals a bone from Coke, first of all I don't think she really thinks about hurting him intentionally, she just wants the bone, and second I don't think Coke is hurt by that.  He will either take the bone back b/c he wants it, or he will quickly move on to doing something else.  There's no malicious intent, just selfishness that comes from being an animal only thinking about him/herself, in the now. 

I see the practice of deception when Paganini is being chased for the toy in her mouth.  Her pivots are extraordinary and often fakes the turn sending the other dogs in one direction while she goes in another.  She is so good at these fake turns that she has caught a few sparrows.

 

deception ~ "deception may or may not imply blameworthiness, since it may suggest cheating or merely tactical resource (magicians are masters of deception)."
deceive ~ cause (someone) to believe something that is not true, typically in order to gain some personal advantage.

I think that deception is certainly a part of behaviors of any predatory or prey animal. It's used for survival. Dogs have this hard wired into them and they certainly use it both in a predatory context and in play. Through play, they hone their skills as a predator. Things like - pretending they aren't there, pretending they don't see the prey object, pretending they aren't interested in the prey object.

spiritdogs

 Just thought I'd toss a little food for thought out there in view of recent discussions of theory of mind.  Anyone have any scientific or anecdotal evidence of this?

I once housesat for a friend for a month. Part of the housesitting involved carrying for his poodle-mix. A few days after my housesitting stint began, I came home one afternoon to find Hummer, who I had left in the securely fenced back yard, sitting on the front porch in the unfenced front yard. I spent the next several days turning him loose in the back yard and then spying on him to see how he had escaped. No luck, as long as I was in the house, but if I left for more than about 10 minutes I would inevitably come home to find Hummer on the front porch. So, one morning, I turned Hummer out in the fence yard, found a spot back behind the house outside the fence, and called Hummer to me. Poor Hummer jumped and dug and cried and did everything he possibly could to get to me, but poor little angel just couldn't find a way out of the fenced yard. I left, walked around a couple neighbor's houses, and by the time I got back to my friend's house, there was Hummer on the front porch. Finally, I enlisted the aid of another accomplice. This time I found a hiding spot in the back alley, had my friend come by and release Hummer into the back yard, and then leave. After sniffing around for about five minutes after my accomplice left, Hummer went to the EXACT location of his Academy Award Winning portrayal of a dog desperately trying unsuccessfully to come to my call, casually hopped over the fence and headed for the front porch.

Deception? You be the judge.

I think dogs can be deceptive. Not in a mean way, but just to get what they want.

Just a couple videos on the subject...

Sneaky Pug 

A funny one:

Commercial 

I think so, to a degree.

 For example I let Kord out into the yard Monday morning as usual, when I went to let him in I could see he had something in his mouth( it was dark and I was sleepy), but by the time I closed all the doors and tracked him down I could see/find nothing anywhere, and he was lounging in his crate, I then figured what I saw was a figment of my sleepiness and went to take a shower.

I get out of the shower and head to the bedroom and lo and behold, there is my boy, trying desperately to hide a half piece of frisbee that he dug out of the snow and brought into the house  Mind you, just the day before I told him no, not in the house and made him leave it outside.

A) item not allowed in house (not this one anyway)

B) brought in under cover of darkness, while I was half asleep and acted all good and normal. No signs he knew he was doing a no no. (I would call that a bold move)

C) Did react in a "dang I'm caught better kiss up" way as soon as he knew I had seen it, read, ears back, head and tail down, kisses galore...........

Sigh.........I just washed it off and gave it to him, I was tired and had to leave for work, so bad on me.

absolutely...a bird may feign injury to get a predators attention away...if a bird can do this...why not a dog act in a similar manner?

Of a certainty I have seen dogs that HAD (in past...healed since) an injury begin to limp when scolded or when they want something. I have seen them as DPU said...act as tho they cannot run quickly and then burst away.

I certainly think so, and have read quite a bit of literature in journals discussing deception in animals. I think deception for wild animals, in an evolutionary sense, is required for the survival of some of those animals. Its' a part of hunting for predators, it's a part of survival for prey, and I've seen some of the most amazing behaviours occur in the wild that have been classified as deception.

There are a lot of cases of dog-aggro pitty dogs who will actually play bow to other dogs, enticing other dogs to come forward, seemingly for a friendly greeting, so that they can have access to fighting. It's a very bizarre behaviour chain, but rather cunning to observe. I've seen such amazing behaviours in my guys in which I would have to reach to find a way to describe it that is not deception. I see it in play styles, I see it in the manner to which they obtain resources they want. I've seen one girl who I call a little deceptive fiend, as she is so smart, she plays this super-submissive game and can successfully get ahold of any toy that she wants, whenever she wants it, regardless of who has it. Some dog trainers have actually given a name to this type of dog, who literally weasle their way into getting what they want. It's so amazing to see.

Kim_MacMillan

I certainly think so, and have read quite a bit of literature in journals discussing deception in animals. I think deception for wild animals, in an evolutionary sense, is required for the survival of some of those animals. Its' a part of hunting for predators, it's a part of survival for prey, and I've seen some of the most amazing behaviours occur in the wild that have been classified as deception.

There are a lot of cases of dog-aggro pitty dogs who will actually play bow to other dogs, enticing other dogs to come forward, seemingly for a friendly greeting, so that they can have access to fighting. It's a very bizarre behaviour chain, but rather cunning to observe. I've seen such amazing behaviours in my guys in which I would have to reach to find a way to describe it that is not deception. I see it in play styles, I see it in the manner to which they obtain resources they want. I've seen one girl who I call a little deceptive fiend, as she is so smart, she plays this super-submissive game and can successfully get ahold of any toy that she wants, whenever she wants it, regardless of who has it. Some dog trainers have actually given a name to this type of dog, who literally weasle their way into getting what they want. It's so amazing to see.

 

It's interesting to see how your mind tends to go automatically to the idea that the dog is doing something deliberately. I've worked with dogs who do the same behavior you've described above, of doing a play bow as if inviting the dog to play, and then becoming aggressive the instant the other dog gets close enough. I've never once thought it was a ploy or deception. My feeling has always been that the play bow reflected the first dog's feelings of social attraction for, and a desire to play with, the other dog. But when the other dog actually got up close (too close, in fact), that kind of proximity, and the energy inherent to it, was too much for the first dog to handle, and so he or she attacked out of fear. In terms of pit bulls, many of the pits I've worked with seem to have been trained or conditioned to only be aggressive when the other dog was in his or her "space." They're fine as long as the other dog keeps its distance.At any rate, I've seen this behavior and I always thought it was simply a matter of a desire to play followed by an emotional energy overload which resulted in a fear reaction, which sparked the attack. I never once saw this as a deliberate attempt to fool the other dog.

As for the "deceptive fiend" you also described (not fully enough, but I kind of get the picture), this behavior reminds me of the way a supposedly submissive female will steal a dead hare or rabbit from her mate. I've described it on my website as follows:

"The male has killed a hare and comes trotting back toward the den where, presumably, he wants to eat his kill in peace and safety. As he approaches, the female comes toward him. His neck and back go up. He stands tall and stiff. She approaches, low to the ground. The closer she comes, the stiffer he stands. The stiffer he gets, the lower she gets to the ground. Then as she comes right up to him, while he’s growling and standing firm, she very nearly rolls over on her back in the way the inferior wolf in Lorenz’s description does. Here, though, she’s not on her back and not offering her neck. So why is she so low to the ground? The next part of the drama explains it: crouching in front of her mate, so low to the ground as to almost be on her back, her jaws are actually now in a perfect position to grab the hare right out of the male’s mouth. Which is exactly what she does! Then she runs back to her pups, leaving the male standing there, hare-less and “wondering” what the hell just happened."

However, I can see that if one were to stick in some way to the "submissive" model of pack behavior then one might confuse what the female does as a deliberate ploy. I don't see it that way. I see it as a mixture of desire to obtain the prey animal for her pups, mixed with a natural reaction to the male's stronger emotional energy. So she comes toward him in a way that isn't deceptive at all, at least not from her perspective. It's simply the safest and quickest way for her to get what she wants. In terms of your deceptive fiend of a female, it's probably not only an instinctive but also a learned behavior. But either way it can still be explained satisfactorily as a matter of emotional energy flow, not deliberate deception, which would require that the dog have a theory of mind.

Also, you mention "quite a bit of literature in journals" on this topic. I've seen that too. My feeling is that if the people who take this view were to look at behavior from a interdisciplinary standpoint, they wouldn't be making this error. Even just looking at your deceptive fiend of a female through the lens of emergence theory, you'd see (perhaps, if you were open to seeing) that there's no deception going on.

Anyway, that's how I look at it.

LCK 

 

Lee Charles Kelley

It's interesting to see how your mind tends to go automatically to the idea that the dog is doing something deliberately.

Who said it was automatic? Most of the conclusions I come to occur after quite a period of critical thinking and analyzing. I rarely come to "automatic" thoughts on most things I develop ideas about.

Lee Charles Kelley

However, I can see that if one were to stick in some way to the "submissive" model of pack behavior then one might confuse what the female does as a deliberate ploy. I don't see it that way.

That's good, as if you knew much of anything about me, the first thing you would come to know, is that I don't see things that way either. In fact, I am an avid criticizer of the pack model. By "submissive" I was referring to submissive gestures/appeasement gestures, such that the majority of people would understand what I am describing, rather than describe each sequence of behaviours individually. It saves time that I don't really have these days...lol. And because most people know my feelings on the pack model of behaviour, it's easier for me to describe something that most people can understand than have to explain my entire philosophy on dog as domestic animal over and over again.

Lee Charles Kelley

But either way it can still be explained satisfactorily as a matter of emotional energy flow, not deliberate deception, which would require that the dog have a theory of mind.

it can be explained that way, although I wouldn't personally call it satisfactorily. I would actually think of deception and learning as much more satisfactory based upon my knowledge and experience. But that's the joy of having a variety of theories about phenomena.

Lee Charles Kelley

Also, you mention "quite a bit of literature in journals" on this topic. I've seen that too.

Really, you know precisely which literature I'm talking about when I haven't even mentioned specific sources?

Lee Charles Kelley

Even just looking at your deceptive fiend of a female through the lens of emergence theory, you'd see (perhaps, if you were open to seeing) that there's no deception going on.

It's not that I'm not open to it, I just don't agree with it as much as I agree with some of the other theories that are currently in existance today. Certainly there are some components to it that makes sense, and others that don't seem to fit. That's the joy of theories, there is no "one-theory-fits-all" in most of the cognition world. Usually all of the theories combined come to make the most accurate portrayal of what we currently know things to be like. I'm not sure what makes you think I haven't looked at it from an interdisciplinary standpoint. Just because I don't jump on it the second I see it doesn't mean I haven't read it, interpreted it, thought about it, and formed my own ideas about its strengths and weaknesses as a theory. There's a difference between "being open to seeing" something and "avidly supporting" something. If you come to get to know me over time, I think you'll come to realize that I'm quite open-minded about things. :-)

I think they can to a point.

 Gunnar will bark as if someone is at the door and then grab a bone Hektor has once Hektor falls for the deception and runs to the door to investigate.

 Hektor will chew on his toys at his favorite spot in the living room, but if he steals a roll of toliet paper he will take it outside, the only reason I can think of for this behaviour is he knows that he is not suppose to have the toliet paper.

 Hektor also tries to sneak (at least it looks like sneaking) food by coming up to my sons while there is food on the coffe table and asking to be petted then manuevering himself slowly around so that his snout is near the food.

 Gunnar will tease Hektor with a toy to get him off the prime spot on the couch next to me, once Hektor comes after the toy, Gunnar will drop it and take the vacated spot on the couch.

 

Lee Charles Kelley

It's interesting to see how your mind tends to go automatically to the idea that the dog is doing something deliberately. I've worked with dogs who do the same behavior you've described above, of doing a play bow as if inviting the dog to play, and then becoming aggressive the instant the other dog gets close enough. I've never once thought it was a ploy or deception.

I would call it deception. But you seem to think that deception needs to be deliberate? Deception, by definition, doesn't require any deliberate acts, nor does it require any thought. A fish that camouflages itself to look like a piece of wood floating in the current is using deception, but I don't believe there was a thought process involved.