By Nature, Can't Do Wrong...

Yeah, right.  I have heard time and time again that animals are inherently good, and do not have the propensity to do wrong.  Says who?  What scientist learned to speak "animal" and asked them?  I like to think that animals, and especially domestic ones, are more like children.  They are very forgiving, loyal, caring and usually unconditionally loving creatures.  They have the aptitude to learn rules and boundaries set by their "master," carry out simple commands and show obedience and submission.  However, I do not now, nor will I ever, believe that they naturally cannot do wrong.  If that were true, how would you explain my dog, Cosmoe?  Just a few examples, evidence even, that animals are truly capable and willing to do wrong (I'm not going to get into why we have the rules we have here.  If you want an explanation for any of them, I would be happy to expound later.):

A rule in our home is that Cosmoe does not eat people food.  He eats dog food.  When the kids are eating at the table, Cosmoe is sent outside or in his house until they are finished and the "scraps" are cleared from the floor.  Since we got him,  he has always been scolded and punished for breaking that rule.  Now, anytime we leave the room and spy on him, we see him frantically scavenging around for the scraps that might not have been swept up.  When he thinks we aren't looking, he'll even try to "clean" up the kiddie tables real quick-like before we come back in the room.

Another rule is that Cosmoe is not allowed on our carpet.  He stays on hard surfaces.  (This rule was kind of an accident.)  However, especially if we are outside and the door is open, we can see him inching his way across the carpet, sniffing around looking for something to play with, and sometimes just wanting to come outside.  The other day, he actually snuck up to the front door, then darted out and started running around in circles in the front yard.  He was having a blast, but he wasn't supposed to get out that way, and he knew it.

Cosmoe is also not supposed to chew on the kids' toys or other things.  He has his own chew and other doggie toys.  But, when he thinks no one is around, he wastes no time chewing up a stray toy left on the kitchen floor or small tables.  He wouldn't dare touch them when someone is in the room.  But all by himself, he likes to make mischief.  He even got a little baggie of stamps out of a craft box we keep on the floor under a chair in the kitchen (because there's no other place for it right now) and chewed them all up.  They were Halloween stamps, so he had black and orange ink all over his mouth and front feet after that one.   Now, we know he knew better for that.  He actually had to dig them out of the box to chew on them!

There are other examples, but I think that proves my point.  There is no way that he is naturally good and won't do wrong.  I believe pets (and other animals) are more like children.  They also have their free agency and can choose whether to do something they know they shouldn't or stay out of trouble.  And Cosmoe is not the only dog that I've seen secretly disobey.  Our dog Sadie used to jump up and sleep or lounge on the couch when no one was home.  We would come home and see her jump off when she heard the car drive up or the garage door open to avoid getting in trouble for it.  And she was a very good dog.  I guess we all... including animals... have our vices.