Is a very human behavior... I think a lot of the time, we see a behavior, and for lack of better knowledge, we paste a "human" quality on our dogs, IMHO... The "noodling" in to get the attention is definitely not jealousy... I concur with the others on this. Dogs are painfully honest.. what you see is what you get. It's a matter of learning to read what you're seeing.
I think this is where a lot of people run into trouble with their dogs... they treat dogs as if they are actually human, saying things like "he knew better!!"... when in reality.. he did not. (i.e. dog pees on the carpet)... I don't believe that dogs do things (i.e. chew the couch, dig up the yard, eat the gutters... ) in order to "get back at us for not being there"... They just do it, because there's nothing else to do, and they have not been properly guided, (or completely guided) to learn what is acceptable and what is not.
We would really be doing all of dogkind a service if we lifted these human qualities, and the expectations we have of them, and we begin to treat them as dogs.... Expecting a dog to act like a human gives them pretty big shoes to fill.. ;)
They are dogs, they possess instinctual behaviors, and they learn what is acceptable behavior (or not) and exhibit it. Can dogs manipulate a situation? Yes. Do they do so in order to deceive us, like a human would? No. They do it because they gain something from it.. It's up to us, when they join our world to teach them the ropes..
Sorry about the soapbox! It just seems that there have been so many posts lately in which people are seemingly "missing the boat" regarding the why's of their dog's behavior.
In a case like fbkeay's, I would rectify that situation in a heartbeat... just as Storm posted:
Quote:
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You are in charge and you dictate what behavior is acceptable or not, within reason offcourse been a fair, responsible "dictator".
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Couldn't have said it better.....
Ciao'
Elisabeth