Manipulative Dogs

I dont believe dogs manipulate in that way. They learn behaviours and consequences which may lead to what they seek be it something we are ok with or not, [ be it for food / treats / fuss / warding someone off/threatening behaviours leading to being left alone / on the sofa/stopping partners cuddling up etc etc etc ], and usually when people think their dog is manipulating them its because the owner has unintentionally given off signals / responses which lead the dog to continue, [ through learning, due to rightly or wrongly rewarded behaviour ], doing whatever may be which gets them rewarded in some way.

I agree Patch in order to manipulate one needs to have an awareness of self, dogs don't have this, only humans and apes are cognizant, that is one of the things that sets us apart from animals

I use to agree with patch and mini untill I was told that when I was out my sister was sat on Storms fave chair, he stood up barked at the door and when my sister stood up to answer it he got on the chair and went asleep, and surprise surprise no one at the door, now I did not belive it untill I saw him do it myself and was shocked to say the least. I would consider this to be manipulative.

I suppose it depends what you mean by manipulative, I had one bitch who I felt was manipulative with the other dogs. If she wanted a bone or chew & one of the others had it, she would sit quietly for a bit then rush to the front door barking. As soon as they went to investigate she would nip back & take the bone chew etc, whats more no amount of barking at the door by them would move her unless there really was someome there, but the others were fooled time after time.

And Dolphins! Research has also shown that Dolphins possess self awareness.

I don't think dogs necessarily manipulate. However, they can learn that certain behaviors lead to certain results. Something I see often at the vet clinic in dogs that have been ill and the owner has been coddling them through their illness, once they are well again, the dog will sometimes refuse to eat unless hand fed. He learned during his illness, that refusing to eat out of the bowl results in being fed tidbits by hand and lots of coos and attention. Not really manipulation as much as learned behavior.

Now Cats....cats are manipulative little beasts.

Stormey, had to laugh at that one
But 'manipulative' well I'm not sure. Yes, learned behaviour definately, i.e. He's learned that when he barks at the door a human will go look. Thus, if he wants to sleep in that chair, and someones in it he must go bark at the door.

I think we would call it 'manipulative' but I'm pretty sure dogs don't think in that way.

They think "I want to sleep in that chair and if I bark at the door she'll get out" simple

Stormey,

Storm must have learnt somehow that the behaviour gets rewarded somehow (by getting into the chair).

I don't think dogs are able to be manipulative, they learn rewarding behaviours and act on them. Just like they don't work to please you, they work because they know that when you're happy, good things happen.

When Takara and Eddy have chew sticks, they regularly swap - it's quite amusing to watch actually...
Takara starts one off, but she prefers new ones, so when she's chewed it til it's quite soft, she gives it to Eddy who gives her his that he hasn't touched because it's too hard for him, then they both have what they want.

She doesn't do this because she loves him and wants him to have a softer chew for his old teeth, she gives him her's because she knows that in return, she'll get a better one! He allows her to have his, because in his opinion, the chewed one is better.

Likewise, when she was a pup she knew that if we weren't looking she could steal our food and swallow it before we could stop her. She didn't think 'right, I'll steal their food and eat it before they can stop me' she thought 'taking that food, that is up for grabs is very rewarding'
One day she barked at something, we all looked, she realised there was nothing there but as we were looking away, she stole our dinner.

From then on, barking at the window got her our dinner

That's true I had a bitch who wasn't very fond of showing, one day she went lame in the ring so Iwithdrew her. After her foot had healed she regularly went lame again in the ring but nowhere else. Then one day she slipped up & the judge noticed that when she turned to return she swaooed the foot she was limping on, Needless to say she was not withdrawn & she never limped in a ring again.