Can pets be jerks?

[Software Update]

Humans are animals too. Nothing about acting like a jerk is uniquely human. It doesn't even require forethought. A bad mood could be enough. Animals have moods too.

Blaming the owners is so naïve. Dogs and cats are predators, so of course they have aggressive tendencies which lead to jerkish behaviours.

 

[Deleted member 8468]

My dog is a playful jerk all the time, but I love it.

The sort of stuff like finding a toy while I'm working, and then waiting next to my chair for the perfect opportunity to wedge it between my arm and body. It's sort of impressive how stealthy he can be with it, and it earns him at least a few minutes of playtime unless I really can't get up.

He does the same sort of thing to other dogs he's familiar with too, just a little more aggressively than with a human. If my neighbors dog doesn't want to play at the moment, my pup will just walk up and gently put his mouth on the other dogs head. He's usually successful in his attempts to annoy others into play. It's all in good fun.

 

[Walter White Walker]

Both my cats can be complete assholes at times, so yes.

 

[Mona]

when was the last time you heard about a chicken coming home and beating his hen? never, know why? cuz chickens are decent people

 

[Irishmantis]

this is kinda just a rude assumption imo

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I don't know about Cats

But it's true for Dogs when a dog is badly behaved it's the owners fault

I can see why you think it was rude since the thread was in light hearted taste

 

[Lobster Roll]

I don't think so, I think it's all down to the owners

If a dog has a bad temperament I blame the owner first thing

Cats I guess have astanderd amount of jerkiness built in butI still believe they can be trained to not be

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And yet every single cat I've had in my life has been friendly with strangers and just kind of chills with people and has a good time. Unless the cat was an outdoor / feral cat that was domesticated (and thus having independence / survivalship in their minds), how a cat behaves and interacts with people is a byproduct of how they were raised.

 

[DirtyLarry]

My sweetest dog in the world, seriously he is the best dog I have ever had and at 46 years old I have had a few since I was a kid, can absolutely be a jerk now and then. It is a funny being a jerk, but a jerk nonetheless. He will just refuse to listen. It is almost always treats related or coming inside from the yard. But he is very stubborn sometimes.

I also have had 2 cats that were total jerks. Not to me, they loved me, but everyone else? They fucked with for sure. And it was for no apparent reason as they all had great lives.

 

[Sobriquet]

Animals have personalities just like humans. Some are just jerks.

 

[Reym]

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I love this gif, it's hilarious.

But I hate when people legitimately use this to explain that "cats are jerks". (I don't think you're doing that, Bishop, it's just something I've seen elsewhere.) And the reason I hate that relates to the OP's question.

This cat isn't "being a jerk", it's playing. Cats like to bat things with their paws and when it moves it amuses them. If it's not a ball, it's not moving far, though. They knock stuff off shelves because they think it's fun and don't actually realize there's any problem with it. It's not that they can NEVER do it "to be jerks" - some will absolutely do it because they've learned it'll get them attention - but usually it's just them having fun. In the particular case of this gif, the cat probably thinks it and the human are playing a fun game together.

 

[Heynongman!]

Yes. My cat is an asshole 100% of the time. She's the worst cat I've ever had, and clearly despises everyone in the house.

 

[Gunny T Highway]

Cats are assholes. You cannot tell me otherwise.

 

[Spanglo]

Animals have a full range of emotions... they can definitely be jerks. I have 2 cats, brothers, they fuck with each other multiple times everyday. They know exactly how to trigger one another.

One time my cute af cat, was pissed off I wouldn't let him out, he was howling and running back n forth window to the front door. Well he decided that his tantrum wasn't working, so he jumped on the couch, still yelling, looked me straight in the eye, and dropped a deuce in the exact spot I sit on the couch. I pulled a rib muscle from the ensuing laughter.

 

[Baphomet]

Yes, our older doggo is mean our little jojo sometime :/

 

[MrCibb]

100% yes. One of my Yorkshire Terriers Tony is an absolute unstoppable fucking dickhead.

When I give my two dogs a chew stick, the littler one called Joe just goes to town and eats it straight away like a normal dog would. The absolute unstoppable fucking dickhead on the other hand, he just sits with it in his paws watching the other one finish, just stares down his brother the entire time. Then once Joe does finish, the absolute unstoppable fucking dickhead slowly eats it deliberately in front of him while growling. Tony also likes to jump on the bed first and then growl and not let Joe up, who then just cries until I pick him up. God he's such a dickhead. But I love him.

 

[djkimothy]

My cat literally pushed my violin rosin on the tiled floor while maintaining eye contact the whole time. She knew what she was doing.

 

[Lirion]

Cats are jerks, but birds are assholes.

 

[SwampBastard]

 

[krae_man]

Edit: Like minds!

 

[THEVOID]

just look in reddit sub catsareassholes

 

[Box]

 

[TheWooniestWoona]

100%

My mom's pug used to poop on the floor right in front of her every time she'd get back from leaving him for a few days (don't worry, she had people check on him and feed him while she was gone). It would happen every single time. He'd be happy to see her, but angry at her for leaving, so he'd punish her. Oddly enough, he'd also start getting mad if she had too many days off and didn't leave him alone. That dog loved his alone time.

That dog was so spiteful at times that we were sure he'd die out of spite one day. Luckily we were wrong, and he died of old age after 16 very healthy years. He was a little jerk, but we loved him.

 

[Nigel Tufnel]

My cat is very loving with me specifically, but she is 100% a raging asshole.

 

[ShyMel]

When we took in our second rabbit, our first rabbit was a bit of a jerk to him by stealing treats from him, going into his litter area, etc.. But now they cuddle and groom each other which is much better than before.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

 

[The Deleter]

It's unfair to associate human qualities to animals. There are instinctual reasons they act certain ways, and if they are not trained to prevent those behaviors then it's the owners fault.

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Now see this is just incorrect. I've helped raise several generations of cats, and given the same environment, affection, and nourishment, there have always been individuals that stuck out from the rest as jerkish, mean, and even aggressive, despite being separated from the elements that usually draw those instincts out. Every action of antisocial, selfish, and aggressive behavior to their own kind or humans in turn was the direct result of their own choices/personalities, not the caregiver's fault of a lack of a nurturing upbringing. Not saying that asshole/negligent owners don't have blame when they do cause pets to turn bad, but the idea that the animals have absolutely no agency over their own actions while the owner can 100% prevent negative personalities is straight up wrong.

 

[Qikz]

Just like humans who can turn into jerks at random intervals regardless of upbringing the same can happen with animals as well. Not every animal that acts like a jerk has bad owners, in some cases yes that is the cause but that's usually problems with aggression and not really jerkiness in general. Animals will even be jerks to each other sometimes.

 

[GungHo]

Sometimes their idea of a game isn't your idea of a game.

 

[ManNR]

I love cats. 100% cats are capable of being dickheads.

Adding a personal anecdote: one of my cats, a male, likes to push against my legs while I'm walking around the house. He will do this in such a way as to make me bump into him. When I do bump him he will grab my leg and attack it. He is particularly aggressive with this tactic when he wants me to feed him.

He will also wait until my much older female cat is relaxed in her spot and then smack her in the face.

He's definitely a bully and I love him.

 

[The Deleter]

when was the last time you heard about a chicken coming home and beating his hen? never, know why? cuz chickens are decent people

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👀💦

 

[Griselbrand]

Bird will not let me sleep in.

If I'm in bed and my eyes are closed he will come over and nip at my elbow or arm to wake me. I could be in the exact same position with my eyes open looking around and he will not touch me.

 

[Crashman]

They very much can be. My parents have a dog, Baxter, who was "friends" with a neighbor's dog, Claude. One day in the morning Baxter was given his breakfast (one of those Ceasars dog foods that have a little plastic tin) though he didn't eat it right away. The neighbor soon showed up with his dog Claude, as he and my dad generally walked the dogs together, but before that, my dad let him and and Claude into the house. Baxter, now knowing another dog was in the house promptly ate his food, while Claude watched on. After Baxter finished, Claude went and sniffed Baxter's empty food tin, and promptly peed in it. Both of them were very much jerks.

 

[Ravelle]

Yeah, Cats are the biggest jerks.

I love them to death, but they're still jerks.