Yeah, just like the post described - they know good and bad. They get sneaky, quiet and guilty because they know they were bad.
I have a cat and a dog and i swear to god, my cat gives me a challenging look of pure intent when she does something that she KNOWS she is not allowed; Like jumping up the kitchen counter. We don’t want her on that. She sits in front of it, sees me coming, looks me in the eyes with a very certain look and jumps on it. When i tell her to jump down, she will do it immediately but again… a look of pure intent and naughtiness.
My cat has never even once jumped on the table to get something she shouldn’t have. The ONLY reason she ever gets up there is when she decides she’s been crying for dinner too long, because she knows she’s not supposed to. She doesn’t even know WHY she’s not supposed to, she has no idea what to do when she’s up there. She gets up on it and just stands there and looks at me.
I’d say dogs kmow when they’re intending to be bad, such as stealing food, going in places they’re not allowed whilete think their owner isn’t home or when they generally think they’re yet to be caught being bad, they act mischievously. I’d also say that it’s the intention to be bad that is naughty, and dogs are very capable of that.
I think the difference is that dogs can think “hoohoo I’m gonna be bad >:)” which is a naughty thought, and means they understand it, but they can’t go to that next point where cats are which is “I’m gonna do something naughty and I don’t even care about the bad bit at all”.
Absolutely! My parents have a horizontal bar slightly higher than the working surface in their kitchen. The cats are allowed on the bar, not on the surface. These fuckers lay on the bar and stretch their paws down so they are barely hovering above the surface, as if they were saying “I’m not touching it!” like a child. And that’s not a relaxed position, they have to really stretch their paws to touch it. Yet they always do it and look at you like “what are you gonna do? I’m not touching it!”
