Goodbye,
it was a pleasure,
but it was too early.

I don't think dogs can lie, or at least mine can't. He looks guilty even when it isn't his fault.

__________________
"Philosophy is a walk on a slippery rock
Religion is a smile on a dog."

sure they can....not with a label....they dont ...least i dont think they do...sit and say well...watch me lie about this as a human would know the process of why there lying and there tactics....now I think many animals know the tactic of bate and switch.....get the attention...appear un interested.....make my move when they...it or what ever has changed there focus....just watch critters....they all fib to further there needs or wants......life is beautiful .....the day is wow.. a great one...hope your enjoying yours...i know all the critters around here are playing there games this am.....

OK maybe they can "lie" in this sense, but I don't see it as lying. For me lying involves intent, and I don't think animals have that. What you described is a survival tactic that has evolved over the years. Like pack hunting, is it lying to use one of the pack to gain attention so others can move in unnoticed. In the strictest sense, sure, but not with the intent to decieve to cause chaos.

__________________
"Philosophy is a walk on a slippery rock
Religion is a smile on a dog."

I would sure not know for sure..but i am around animals daily and from what i see...(there not pack animals or wild but tame)....they know what there doing..or they least sure seem too..again i agree i dont know it would have a label such as lie as a human chooses...but if you watch personalitys not all people that lie regular really mean to..for some it is part of who they are..what there world must look like.... but this type personality to the observer appears an obvious blatant lie......you just learn to accept people for who they are flaws and all.......life is as it should be i think..with continued learning and growth............

Hi pinski...

yeah, animals can lie, at least i had a dog that could. One was the liar the other was the gullible one. Still makes me grin after all these years of thier abscence.

One toy, they both favored above the others. Pepper would have it and be playing with it while Tae watched yearning over it. When Tae thought it went on long enough she would run to the door and bark as if someone was there. Pepper would forget about the toy in her watchdog duty and run to the door to bark too, then Tae would race back to the abandoned toy and claim it. This happened frequently over a period of time. So yes, a ploy, a misrepresentation....

Also dogs think. These two had toys they knew by name. Sometimes they'd take them outside with them and come back without the toy. Before letting them in i'd ask where big bird toy was, and you know how a person will roll thier eyes up and to oneside when trying to recall something from memory? I saw these dogs do that more then once, and then dash back to pick up the toy.

i've been so close to some of my animals it's been almost a psychic connection. I've treated them like animals according to thier species needs but never as something inferior to the point i feel like i lie when someone asks if i am the animals owner and i say yes, i don't 'feel' ownership, it's more a buddy thing with me, the protecter buddy.

But if it comes to smarts, unless your prepared to deal with a critter that evaluates your intellegence as much as you evaluate it's...stay away from hookbill birds!