Dog Community

Spite - does it exist?

Posted : 6/28/2006 4:46:08 PM

I have been in dispute with my husband and mother in law - they claim that our dog is spiteful and I disagree. I honestly don't believe that my dog is purposely doing something bad. Who is right? What are your opinions? Am I just being too lenient?

zsrg;lb ksr'pfjsoprej dfsg;va bjpskopa]

Posted : 6/28/2006 5:01:54 PM

This is along disputed issue. Not nessecasrily spite but premeditated actions. I dont think dogs plan a course of action but I think they may act upon their feelings.

loveukaykay

Posted : 6/28/2006 5:07:44 PM

I dont think spite exists in them. I think they dont like certain people or simply dont know that they have to listen to a certain person.

miranadobe

Posted : 6/28/2006 5:36:13 PM

My dog trainer says dogs don't do things out of spite. I asked because a friend's dog kept pooping in the house every time he left, yet the dog HAD BEEN house-broken and there were no medical issues, etc. Owner thought the dog was doing it out of spite. Trainer (who this friend also used at the time)said the dog was adjusting to changes in the environment (work schedule, new girlfriend, whatever) and the eliminating in the house was a way of reassuring himself. That's just that particular case.

Personally, I say "Dogs do things because they can." ie, If he jumps on your windowsill to get to the potted plants and rip your curtains to shreds... well, he did it because he COULD. Not necessarily because he wanted to push your buttons and ruin your home decor.

bluelighting

Posted : 6/28/2006 5:58:16 PM

I think animals do stuff depending on feelings to certain people.

I've notice with my aunt which Blue hates her and does things that are very unusual. He growls at her, avoids her at all times, and he has even used the bathroom on her leg. Peeing on her wasn't an accident since I just took him out to use the bathroom which he did both, but when she came in he went right over and drenched her leg in pee. My aunt doesn't like Blue due to shedding and she thinks he is to big.

miranadobe

Posted : 6/28/2006 6:45:12 PM

Maybe. But doesn't that sound more like he's defending his territory? She threatens it in some way and he's communicating that it's his territory? Or fear (hiding away)?

Spite is malicious feelings/urges to impart hurt or harm, with full knowledge of the nature and effects.

cakana

Posted : 6/28/2006 6:59:01 PM

As others have implied, I think it probably depends on how you look at the behavior. I knew a woman whose poodle pooped in her luggage everytime she got it out to travel. At the time (I was a teenager) I thought it was because he was mad at her. Now I tend to think he knew she'd be leaving and wanted to be sure she took a little of him with her [

].

zsrg;lb ksr'pfjsoprej dfsg;va bjpskopa]

Posted : 6/28/2006 7:17:05 PM

Bluelightning put into words what i was trying to express. I had a boyfriend my dog hated (cause he was a jerk) and even though she was potty trained she peed on his boots everytime he slept over. I could have interpreted it as spite if thats what you mean!

jones

Posted : 6/28/2006 7:30:38 PM

Wiktionary defines spite as ill will or hatred toward another, accompanied with the disposition to irritate, annoy, or twart; a desire to vex or injure; petty malice; grudge; rancor.

I think that to do something out of spite requires a capacity for human empathy and understand human psychology. And though I'd agree that dogs can intuit human feelings, I don't think they can comprehend human psychology and then manipulate that psychology - i.e. my human dislikes messes... I'm upset that she didn't let me eat her pizza... so to get back at her I'm going to poop on the carpet. It's just too complex - it depends too much on an ability to understand and

lay off of human motivations.

miranadobe

Posted : 6/28/2006 7:34:39 PM

Well-put, Jones! I agree.

Mikaela Ritter

Posted : 6/28/2006 8:17:27 PM

I don't know enough to have an opinion, but I have heard several accounts of cats who seem to purposefully poop/pee in their owner's shoes or on their pillow after an incident in which the owner annoyed the cat somehow. I've heard it from several different people, but never experienced it myself.

I dunno though, sometimes I wonder if Cairo does things just to irk me...like when we're on a walk, I'm working on training him to pay more attention to me so I'll have him sit and say "look at me!" and he REFUSES to do it. Like, blatantly refuses. I know he knows what I'm talking about because if he's in a really good mood he'll do it no problem the first time I ask, but most of the time he just flat out refuses. If I bend down to look at him, he looks the other way. I guess that's just stubborness though [&:]

miranadobe

Posted : 6/28/2006 8:33:29 PM

I wonder about cats - if their psychology is different, or if it's a territory thing, too.
My sister had a new baby and "her" cat suddenly took to peeing on her things, and nobody else's save for one jacket of mine she borrowed once. However, when she awoke one night and found this cat standing on her chest, butt facing her, taking a crap on her chest....!?! Needless to say the cat was re-homed to an older woman sans baby.

Was the cat marking his territory, including the location most recently visited by the baby while it was nursing? Or was it "jealous and spiteful"??

Xerxes

Posted : 6/28/2006 8:41:44 PM

ORIGINAL: miranadobe

Maybe. But doesn't that sound more like he's defending his territory? She threatens it in some way and he's communicating that it's his territory? Or fear (hiding away)?

Spite is malicious feelings/urges to impart hurt or harm, with full knowledge of the nature and effects.

Would that include a situation where my dog wants another dog to not exist. And going to great lengths to cause this dog to be attacked? If so, my dog has either spite or an intense hatred of another dog.

Xerxes

Posted : 6/28/2006 8:44:52 PM

ORIGINAL: Nikki_Burr

I don't know enough to have an opinion, but I have heard several accounts of cats who seem to purposefully poop/pee in their owner's shoes or on their pillow after an incident in which the owner annoyed the cat somehow. I've heard it from several different people, but never experienced it myself.

I dunno though, sometimes I wonder if Cairo does things just to irk me...like when we're on a walk, I'm working on training him to pay more attention to me so I'll have him sit and say "look at me!" and he REFUSES to do it. Like, blatantly refuses. I know he knows what I'm talking about because if he's in a really good mood he'll do it no problem the first time I ask, but most of the time he just flat out refuses. If I bend down to look at him, he looks the other way. I guess that's just stubborness though [&:]

My cat used to do what I called "spiteful ion." Anytime I had a female visitor she'd find a guitar case, a cushion, some laundry...anything that smelled like me, she'd make sure I was around and she'd look at me and pee all over it.

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Posted : 6/28/2006 10:09:35 PM

I can't imagine a dog doing something purely out of spite. I think they do the things they do out of instinct, or because it's just plain fun.[]

Joyce