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Let's say a pet owner leave his dog inside for a whole day because of a trip. The owner returns to find that the dog has peed on the furniture. Is the dog seeking revenge?

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    It could be because he can't find a spot to pee or trying to test your reaction. Is he house-trained yet?
    – msvintageon
    Commented Jan 5, 2016 at 9:47

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I agree, dogs have no concept of revenge, they do however develop abandonment issues and anxiety when left alone.

I have a springer and cannot leave him for any longer than 4 hours because he then becomes very distressed. They are social animals and do not like being left on their own, but often our lifestyles clash.

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    Morgan, you may want to check out this article on separation anxiety. If you follow the advice there, you may find yourself able to eliminate your springer's distress at being left alone.
    – Dan Henderson
    Commented May 30, 2016 at 13:46
  • Thank you. Luckily he has got over many of the issues he was having as a pup but there is some very useful advice within there that I can continue to work on. We also ended up getting a Nest camera to confirm that he was over these issues, which he is (sleeps all day until bang-on the time I am due to come home – it's amazing how in tune he is!).
    – Bagseye
    Commented May 31, 2016 at 7:58
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Dogs do not have a concept of "revenge". Their mental processes revolve primarily around the "pack" identity: one member of the pack is the alpha, and all have their places in a distinct pecking order. (For owners that aren't mindful of this psychology, the dog usually believes itself to be the alpha.)

If your dog is fully housebroken, it probably held its bladder for as long as it could stand to (and likely experienced a feeling of failure when it couldn't hold it any longer).

If the dog's house training is not complete, then it should come as no surprise that it couldn't go all day.

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Dogs live in the moment. They don't really have a concept of time. They are not capable of analyzing a situation and deciding that you are deliberating leaving them and they need to get revenge because you are late and need to be punished. More likely, you went beyond the dog's bladder capacity and it had to relieve itself. If a dog chews and destroys something, it is probably because they got bored and hungry.

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    I'll disagree with the first two sentences by noting dogs who know what time their owners get home and wait by the door.
    – Plumbing for Ankit
    Commented Dec 9, 2015 at 19:01
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    Thanks. We didn't went for a trip, it was the first example that went to my mind, but still you answered my question.
    – user139316
    Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 13:38
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I think some dogs are intelligent enough to seek revenge. I have a female dog that if I lock her out of my bedroom where she normally sleeps she will poop right in front of the bedroom door. She can easily go outside because we have a dog door. Examples when I had my boyfriend spend the night and I would lock her out of the room she pooped right in front of the door. She was 3 yrs old. Today I was changing the bedding on my bed and cleaning my room, she kept trying to come in to jump on the bed so I locked her out of the room. When I opened the door she had pooped in front of the door. She is 12 yrs now. This is the only time she has pooped in the house.

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Yes and it might not even be revenge. They may just need to pee. Could you go the whole day without peeing? A dog can learn to make like 10 hour work day but much after that asking a bit. They will sleep most of the day but they need to be on that schedule.

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  • I gave a bad example. We didn't went for a trip.
    – user139316
    Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 13:37
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    @user139316 All day is all day. Dog does not know if you went on trip or to work.
    – paparazzo
    Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 22:24
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Not revenge on an owner, but certainly a dog. My dog seeks revenge on the dog that he got in a fight with, every time he passes our house he means business, different reaction to all other dogs. One time my walk with him, he got scent of something and was desperate to track it, 1km later (and running the whole way) sure enough it was the dog that attacked him and he wanted revenge.

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    But the OP never said that there was another dog involved...
    – user11111111111
    Commented Mar 22, 2021 at 21:45

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