My puppy is entirely predictable (and you are too) — why ‘free will’ doesn’t exist and what you can do about it

I can predict with over 90% accuracy what my puppy will do at any given moment based on my knowledge of him and his past actions.

If he’s just eaten a large meal and I can’t see him, he’s probably pooping behind the sofa usually.

If he HASN’T eaten and I can’t see him, he’s found something in the trash and is now chewing on it, likely under the dining room table.

If he starts biting while playing then he’s tired and needs to go to his crate where he’ll pass out within seconds.

Puppies are highly predictable. I’m sure children are similar. What about when we get it wrong?

Too cute. Though perhaps not the safest place to nap.

Sometimes I get it wrong

Now, there are cases — where I guess wrong or he does something ‘unpredictable’.

For example, he may poop in his crate in the middle of the night which he normally doesn’t do.

However, this is a lack of information rather than an inability to predict. In this case, I didn’t know he was sick.

The crux of this is that although I’m sure my puppy thinks he’s doing what he wants and being his own man, he’s actually very formulaic and predictable, and…