IS YOUR DOG A CON ARTIST? 

Dogs are natural born liars and con artists - as sweet and adorable as they are - they know exactly how to “milk” emotion out of us and take advantage of our love for them.

It always makes me chuckle when people say that dogs are “honest.” Dogs have a sense of humour and sometimes they play “mental games with us just for fun.” And yes! they are the biggest con artists in the world.

For example, a dog will act dramatically when you attempt to trim their toenails, right? Scream and howl and carry on like we are killing them- they ARE phobic about their feet- and as soon as an owner attempts to trim their nails, their blood pressure skyrockets so their nails will bleed a little- and that’s all it takes for the owner to give up. So the dog wins in this situation. You have just taught him that if he cries and carries on, you will stop whatever you are doing because it “hurts”. 

I have looked after many dogs who have plotted and schemed simply to  be given  treats. Or to pretend to be fast asleep, then suddenly leap up and rush to the front door. When you open the door to check, you can almost hear them saying “Gottcha! Ha ha!. (If people and animals were really at the door, they wouldn’t run away but would instead make a lot of noise.) They, of course, slip out of the door for a sniff around in the front garden.

One of the dogs that stayed with us, used to regularly bring her empty dish to you and drop it  hard onto your feet (ouch! it hurt), and look at you expectantly. When you lifted it and have limped back to the kitchen she would be wagging her tail as if to say “That was sooo funny”.

 We had another dog who would eat its food and then five minutes later, push the empty dish across the floor and look at you as if to say "I promise you, you didn't feed me." 

You can say to a dog “What do you want? “ and it will run to its dish as if to imply that you hadn’t fed it.  I call it the Oliver Twist syndrome.

Dogs can also tease back. A friend teased a dog and startled it awake by saying “Boo” into the dog’s ear.  A little while later he was snoozing in the armchair, the dog crept up behind the chair and barked loudly so that he was jerked out of his sleep, then it slunk down and hid.

The favourite way of getting treats is to rush out as though they are going to have a pee, circle around a bush or pot plant, and then rush in and wait. In our house, the pretenders are made to go out and do it for real.

How many times have you been conned into giving your dog treats between meals?  They look downcast, head pointing nosewards to the floor and not reacting until you ask "Wassup? with this dog?  Is it not feeling well?"   The moment you ask the dog "Are you OK?" it gives a half hearted tail wag, then a  sad look several times at the treats container.  As if to say "You know what I want?" You, of course, fall for this and hand out a treat.

Dogs also have a sense of humour. There is a red setter in the park who, every day races ahead of his owner, hides himself behind a tree and then jumps out barking loudly. When his owner plays along by pretending to be frightened, the dog wags his tail and whole body furiously as if to say "Gotcha again!" 

They tell bigger lies when they are spoilt. One visiting dog hurt his leg quite badly and after a visit to the vet for treatment and a bandage, he made great mileage by struggling to walk. I lifted him onto the sofa and brought his food and drink to him and lifted him off the sofa to go outside to the toilet. This went on for about 3 days until my husband  informed me that his leg was fine from the day after he hurt it. He was conning me and when I nipped out for shopping or in the bath,  he would race around the house and garden playing, only to get back into position when he heard me coming.  When he goes for his morning walk and people ask "How is your little paw, he looks soulful, lifts his paw and limps until we are out of sight. 

Dogs are the best at conning their owners into doing anything they want but we wouldn't be without them, would we? 

Remember owning a dog is about having fun - with them, so enjoy!!

And to end this week's blog, here's more from the adorable Jesse Jack Russell.

Dawn ("..")