Kally,
According to the definition in that article I referred to, a lot of what dogs do isn’t thinking. It is the result of learning, not independent thought processes. Classical conditioning and operant conditioning are not “thinking” in this definition.
That is not to say, of course, that dogs CAN’T think, just that a lot of examples people give AREN’T thinking.
Right, I assume that conditioned behaviors aren’t “thinking,” but I meant problem solving, learning skills that aren’t taught to them, that sort of thing.
My dog Ivan taught himself how to open doors. It was a multi-step process of hooking his nose under a latch, pulling the door towards himself, then wedging his nose into the gap and flinging the door open. Also, it was a thumb latch, so it was a different process to go in from outside and to go out from inside, and we never taught him. He just figured it out.
He also had a guilty conscience. Once in a while, when he was home alone, he’d steal a loaf of bread from the counter. No matter how many hours later we came home, he’d always greet us outside, and then immediately send himself to his crate and sulk, but he only did it when he had stolen food.
Everyone says that you can’t discipline a dog unless you catch them in the act, because they can’t connect the punishment to the crime after the fact, but he could. Fortunately, we didn’t really have to punish him. He punished himself.
I’m sure not all dogs behave this way.
Ivan was the best dog of all the dogs, after all.
Our dog Ernie likes to find food while we’re out, too. He also has a guilty conscience when we come home. No crate, but he sulks instead of greeting us like we’re rock stars. What’s funnier is that our other dog, Lynyrd, won’t look us in the eye when Ernie has misbehaved. He sits on the couch avoiding eye contact as if to imply, “I know, I know. But I couldn’t stop him. And I’m ashamed because he humped me, the pillows, the coffee table, everything. Don’t look at me. Don’t look at me!”
I believe dogs can reason and think. There’s more to their brains than some give them credit. As with non-furry, human children, that process can be nurtured. Interestingly, dogs are so human-dependent. I watched a show where wolf pups were raised as dogs, and dog pups raised with minimal human contact. They did several experiments with the grown animals. When placed in a room with a human nearby, with a piece of meat inside a cage attached to a rope, all animals, wild, domesticated, and trans-natured, learned quickly that pulling the rope got them the meat. However, after a few goes of that, they tied the meat down so that the rope wouldn’t pull the meat out of the cage. Both the wild and raised-as-a-dog wolves became agitated and growled and kept tugging at the rope. However, both the domesticated and raised-as-a-wolf dogs, after just a couple of unsuccessful tugs, looked at the human for help. They made eye contact. This is clearly an evolutionary development. Even the dogs raised with minimal human contact KNOW humans can help them. The same show detailed how dogs instinctively look at the right side of our faces. Why? The right side of our faces exhibit emotion more pronounced than our left side. And dogs KNOW it. They don’t “smell” fear, they see micro-expressions that we cannot hide. None of this speaks to whether or not dogs learn on their own, it’s just useless trivia for which I needed an outlet!