this is not just a human thing..animals are conflicted about it occasionally too.
take sam...today her stomach convinced her that wrong is ok as long as no one sees you.
i slipped past her to use the bathroom..apparently i did not quite latch the hallway gate properly.
as i came out of the bathroom..i heard a cat food bowl skid across the room and suddenly a large black shape zipped past me in less than a blink of an eye and made it safely back into the kitchen.
sam looked at me expectantly..did i see her or was she fast enough to get away with it? she peered at my face looking for clues. was she busted or had she escaped being caught doing something that she thought she was not supposed to be doing?
i just laughed..labs and their belly's cannot be denied. and yet it was funny that somehow she knew she wasn't supposed to be back there scarfing down the cat food. i never told her she couldn't do it but i guess that constantly closed gate was her first clue.
everyone says dogs don't feel guilt..that they look like they do because they read our body language which tells them they are in trouble. well i don't agree...squirt breaks into the cat room frequently to steal food...and sam did it today. i truly don't care...dogs are supposed to be opportunists. if the opportunity presents, of course they are going to do it! i just think it is funny because she thought she had done something wrong when in fact all she did was be a typical lab.
she has settled in here well. she is having a blast bombing around the barn with the other dogs. BUT...she has a lab clock in her head. as soon as she thought it must be lunch time, she was at the gate barking to come back! once lunch was done, she was eager to get back to the others, running around the barn yards.
we are all in love with this very sweet and funny "foodie" dog.
yes she was.