I've heard scientists say dogs don't have theory of mind and making a big deal out of some animals that do have some traces of it, when any dog owner can confirm they do. I've seen my dog bury a bone in one place while the other dog watches, then rebury it in a different place when the other dog went home.
I've also seen my parents' previous dog pretend he's closed in the enclosure with the doghouse when neighbors cat approached even when he wasn't. Then when the cat came to their backyard the dog would run after the cat.
It's so obvious, it's baffling to me how science could ever miss it.
A dog knows that the cat won't enter the backyard if he thinks the dog is free to roam, but will enter the backyard if it thinks the dog is restricted to the enclosure.
I call that theory of mind, because the dog needs to distinguish what it knows and what the cat knows.
You can have stalking behaviour based on simple ingrained unconscious if-then rules (don't be seen basically).
Showing yourself on purpose to change what you think the other animal thinks your capabilities are is more complicated and harder to evolve as a hardcoded reflex IMO.
Dogs weren't evolving in backyards with periodically opening see-through enclosures.
But yes, I'd assume most stealth predators with sophisticated brains (for example mammals) have some kind of theory of mind. It's just too useful not to have it. Same goes for animals living in complex social groups.
I've also seen my parents' previous dog pretend he's closed in the enclosure with the doghouse when neighbors cat approached even when he wasn't. Then when the cat came to their backyard the dog would run after the cat.
It's so obvious, it's baffling to me how science could ever miss it.