Animals & morality?

Question

What is your take on this story. I promise you, this is true:

When I was 16, I got a dog.

When I was 22, I got my drivers license (long story, very boring).

My first day home alone with the drivers license, I decided to take the dog and get a sandwich, but the dog gave me a really hard time about getting into the car - kept giving me those puppy eyes that said "I'm not so sure about this!" Anyway, We went out, I got my snack & we came back home...

BUT when my mom got home she said "what's wrong with the dog? She's acting really guilty." And I have to admit, she was.

Clearly, the dog thought it was "wrong" for me to take the car. I don't know if she thought we'd get in trouble or what, but my dog had ethical misgivings about going for a ride that day.

Your thoughts?

My dog loved the car - it wasn't a daily thing for her, but she considered it a treat normally.

cmw - you missed the timeline. I was 16 when I got the dog andd 22 when I got the license. Puppy was 6 years old!

Pirate, I actually wasn't supposed to take the dog in the car... but Jeez - I was 22! So I did it anyway. ;-)

Answer 1

I think I need more information.. lol
When my dog has a guilty look, it's usually because she did something wrong.
Maybe the dog had chewed on something in the house, peed somewhere, eaten something she shouldn't have, etc.
I don't see anything about the story that "clearly" shows the dog thought anything was wrong or had "misgivings."
There are plenty of dogs that have been conditioned to associate car rides with bad things - especially if, say, they only get in the car to go to the vet.

Answer 2

Well, think about it. How could the dog possibly know that you were a young driver? I'm not big on the whole "intuition" thing anyway, but when you apply it to a dog, it seems very silly that the dog actually knew right from wrong.

I think it makes more sense to consider other (more likely) reasons why your dog refused to get into the car. For example, maybe he or she never rode in a vehicle much, and she gets nervous whenever she has to go on a car ride, because she's nervous around any kind of automobile in general.

Answer 3

Animals have an innate sense to danger. Ethics are a human trait.

Do me a favor...don't drive that car again. Really.

Peace.

EDIT: I'm sorry, I missed the part where the dog was not supposed to go in the car. Big difference in my answer now.

I have heard tales and have first hand experience with animals saving lives. Our cat bit my neck until I woke up when the building was on fire. He could've escaped through the open window, but he stayed to get me out of the building.

Also, I was riding a friends horse. I ALWAYS saddle my own horse, but that time someone else did. The horse was very particular on who rode him and when the person saddled him he "puffed up" so that the cinch would be loose, which makes the saddle unstable. I got on the horse, he walked to a tree about 10 feet away and would go no farther. I got off and swoop, the saddle went under his belly. He saved me from very serious injury. I loved to run that horse.

Anyway, there are a good many tales of animals sensing danger, which was the reason for my original answer.

Sorry for the confusion.

Peace.

Answer 4

Dog often appear that they know that they've done wrong or act guilty about things. In other cases, I'd suggest that they were reacting to a cue from their owner, but this is doesn't appear to be true in your story.

It is clear that many animals have social structure and norms of behavior. It is also clear that they will break those norms. For example, in ape species that limit breding to the alpha male, often couples will sneak off for some "fooling around". Chimps will wage war on other chimp tribes, and will practice cannibalism on the defeated enemy, but never on their own tribes dead.

I'd say that some animals have some sort of morality.

Answer 5

Perhaps you and mom had it wrong.... The dog might have been sick or something. It may not have been a case of "moral misgivings" as you've decided it was but rather just an upset stomach made worse by a car ride.

I think humans we're quick to impose out own thoughts into the minds of our animals often make humongous errors in our translation and impressions of what our pets might be thinking and feeling.... if anything.

Perhaps you ought to take your little doggie to a strip club and see if mom notices another bout of moral and ethical misgivings.

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Answer 6

There are a lot of dogs that give these looks when getting into the car. They get scared or nervous. It doesn't necessarily mean that it was a sign that something bad was going to happen. Your dog was probably just freaked out.

Answer 7

I don't have any trouble believing it. My cat used to be worried that I was going to oversleep and be late for work. On the weekends, she'd make a big production about waking me up until I got out of bed, walked to the bedroom door and told her everything was okay. Then I could get back in bed and she'd come with me and go back to sleep.

Just so there's no confusion--it wasn't over food. She preferred to eat at night.

I don't know that it's morality precisely. I think it's more that they just become very concerned about us.

Answer 8

You may be right. I'm not one that usually gives animals human characteristics but I make the exception for dogs .Clearly there is more going on with dogs than any of us realize.

Answer 9

They have proven, at least to my satisfaction, that animals are telepathic. They have taught apes to use sign language, and they hold coherent conversations with people who sign. Dogs and cats ar telepathic and if you have ever worked with dophins or Orcas you will realize that we are not the ultimate creatures on this planet.

Answer 10

My take is that you have assigned a human thought process to an animal that is not capable of such intricate thoughts.