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As dog lovers, we believe that our canine companions experience emotions. We observe them as they display affection toward us, cower fearfully from vacuum cleaners, alert to the UPS truck, and grin or wag like crazy at a friendly person.
With their expressive faces and demonstrative body language, dogs manage to communicate a wide range of emotions to their humans. But the jury is still out on whether dogs actually understand when they do something wrong and feel guilty.
You’ve probably come across your dog after he’s done something naughty, like peeing in the house or shredding your favorite pair of socks. His body language seems to radiate guilt. Many veterinary experts suggest that this is a classic case of anthropomorphism — when we attribute human characteristics or behavior to an animal.
A 2009 study examined “guilty” canine expressions. Researchers observed dogs and their owners under several sets of circumstances and discovered that dogs tended to display “guilty” body language more frequently when their owners scolded them than when the owners remained neutral – regardless of whether the dogs had actually done anything wrong.
Dog cognition scientist and author Dr. Alexandra Horowitz, who coordinated the research, concluded, “a better description of the so-called guilty look is that it is a response to owner cues, rather than that it shows an appreciation of a misdeed.”
When we say a dog looks guilty, we usually mean he displays some or all of the following behaviors or signs:
These are all expressions of fear and stress in dogs. While these behaviors could also conceivably communicate a feeling such as guilt, it does pose a dilemma for researchers. Do dogs truly understand that they’ve broken our rules and feel bad about it, or are they simply reacting to our voice and body language by trying to appease us with a submissive posture?
Guilt is a complex concept. It requires an understanding of cause and effect in relation to time, which is difficult to prove. Dogs don’t talk about how they feel by using words, so we don’t know what they think about while they wait for us to come home and discover a chewed up shoe.
Dr. Mary R. Burch, certified applied animal behaviorist, suggests that when a dog looks guilty for an action such as house soiling or chewing, he has most likely done this before and may have experienced a strong reaction from his owner – scolding, yelling, or the cold shoulder. Now the dog may anticipate how the owner will react and exhibit body language to try to appease his owner, for instance cowering, as a way of asking for forgiveness.
Poking fun at a “guilty” dog in an amusing photo is one thing, but misunderstanding guilt can lead to problems. Animal behaviorists agree that because our dogs are so sensitive to our reactions, punishment after the fact can backfire.
If you come home to find your dog has done his business on the living room rug, scolding, pointing, or focusing your full attention on your canine companion’s mistake in a stressful manner communicates your displeasure. Next time you go out, he may eliminate in the basement or in some other hidden space because what he’s learned is that it upsets you to see his mess when you come in the door.
It’s far better to figure out how to prevent situations that lead to the behavior in the first place – confine your dog to a crate or pen when you’re out, hire a dog walker, be sure he’s had plenty of exercise before you leave him.
Dog’s body language can look like they are saying sorry
For example, dogs know when we are angry and when we are telling them off. Over the years of domestication, dogs have grown to understand that things like cowering, being subservient, and puppy dog eyes result in owners calming down, and possibly giving them a treat.
I’ve seen this with my own dog Claude when we are playing. If he is mouthing during play and accidentally bites me, I will do a loud “yelp” to signal he’s gone too far. He will back down, step back a little, and does look very sorry for himself… and I then go in and give him a cuddle and lots of love.
Essentially dogs learn from their bad behavior and understand that they will get rewarded for being good or displaying certain action. If you are scolding them, they might then give you those puppy dog eyes which we can mistake, understandably so, for dogs saying sorry and apologizing.
Here’s what a few experts say about the idea of how dogs say sorry or not.
Can dogs tell when were sorry?They may not understand exactly what you’re saying to them but dogs are incredibly intelligent animals that can tell when someone’s being sincere – a look of guilt on your face or an apology said in such a way that shows you’re sorry for what happened will be enough.
How Dogs Apologize to Their Humans?
Being a dog parent you may have noticed that your pooch gets bored at home when he/she is left alone and finds something to entertain himself.
When you arrive, you may have found chewed shoes and pillows lying in your house and your dog sitting in a corner.
From stealing food from the kitchen cabinet or fridge, chewing shoes or using the bathroom, they do all the wrong things when they are left alone, but do they ever say sorry?
Dogs say sorry by expressing physical signs like the tail-between-the-legs pose, dropped ears, wide eyes, reduce panting, rubbing their face against the paw or wagging the tail. Usually, it’s the dog’s way to accept that they made a mistake and it is a submissione expression rather than saying sorry.
Though many dog parents assume that their dogs know how to say sorry, we don’t know for sure if they are really saying sorry.
Dogs understand that they have screwed up and their tail between the legs pose is actually an apology bow as per City University of New York researchers.
Naughty dogs hang their heads and tuck the tails to seem obedient, which is known to be a socially clever move that dogs inherited from wolves, according to CUNY biologists.
When you assume that your dog looks guilty, you are actually projecting your feelings onto the pooch in the context of the situation. But in reality, they are reacting to your reaction.