Is my dog misbehaving out of spite?

I read an article the other day and wish I would have printed it out because there were some interesting dog behavior tips. There was a section titled "don't assume your dog is misbehaving out of spite" because apparently dogs are not spiteful. I completely disagree with this. Yes, most of the time bad behavior is a result of boredom or excessive energy. However, there are times when they are just being spiteful or complete jerks just because they want to. Let me explain.

A while back, I had to toss out my dog's favorite toy. It was one of those hard to destroy stuffed animals for dogs. I had bought 2 of them because he absolutely loved them but would destroy them. It came time to replace the first one so I gave him the new one, that looked exactly like the first one before he got a hold of it, and took the other to the trash. He was not happy that his favorite toy was in the trash even though he got a new one. He huffed at me, wouldn't look at me, wouldn't take treats from me (which with this dog is a big thing) and in general he didn't want anything to do with me the rest of the day.

When I woke up the next morning I found my favorite pair of sandals chewed on and the book I was reading the day before was destroyed. Now could this be a case of typical dog chewing, absolutely...with any other dog. This particular dog never chewed on things he wasn't supposed to. He did however, have the habit of making it known that he is not happy with you typically be giving you attitude. If he ever destroyed something of yours it was because you really upset him. That is his personality.

A lot of the things our dogs do is a result of boredom and excessive energy. I thoroughly believe that some dogs will behave out of spite depending on their relationship with you. Rule out other causes though and take preventative action to avoid destruction. I have learned that if I am going to toss out a toy with this particular dog, I have to have the new toy out for a week before I toss the old one otherwise there is a massive wave of destruction.