Dogs are without question intelligent and emotional. But they don’t logic things the way that people do. And as responsible pet owners, we shouldn’t expect our dogs to act the way that people do. All we can do is teach them what good behavior is expected, and be lenient when they make a mistake. No one is perfect, and all dogs want is to be loved and cared for.
Dogs may indicate what looks like guilt in a number of different ways. They may cower or roll over, avert their gaze, show their teeth, blink rapidly or squint, lay their ears back, or look up at you with head lowered. But all this doesn’t necessarily indicate guilt. Most likely, your dog’s guilty behavior is only a response to your reaction. Two studies, conducted by Alexandra Horowitz and Julie Hecht, found that dogs are more likely to appear guilty when confronted by their angry or upset owner, regardless of actual guilt or not. In Horowitz’s study, dogs were presented with treats and told not to eat them. The owners weren’t told the truth about whether or not their dog had eaten the treat. Dogs whose owners were told had misbehaved were more likely to display guilt, even those who had behaved properly. In Hecht’s study, dogs were left unsupervised with a table full of food that was off limits. Hecht observed how the dogs greeted their owners. There was no difference in greeting between the dogs who had eaten off the table and those who hadn’t. As body language plays an important role in communication between owner and canine companion, dogs’ body language is the main way they respond to you. When their owners are tense or angry, they will offer appeasing behaviors to try to decrease the tension or anger, especially when they have learned a connection between a specific behavior and punishment. For example, your dog may know that if they have an accident on the carpet, they will be scolded. Dogs are more likely to offer these submissive or placating behaviors to defer punishment. This is why, if you have more than one dog, either or both may appear guilty, regardless of which dog did the bad behavior. Submissive dogs tend to offer the guilty actions more readily than dominant dogs, as the actions we perceive as guilty are actually just submission.
Dogs are bound to do something wrong on occasion. But how you react to it, and learn from it, is as much your responsibility as it is your dog’s. Dogs can learn action and consequence, until they understand that peeing on the floor results in scolding, but that doesn’t make it their fault if they can’t hold it any longer. It becomes your fault for not crating your dog or taking them outside enough. Dogs have no way to verbalize their needs, so it’s your responsibility as owner and fur parent to anticipate their needs and accommodate them. Dogs get bored, scared, or nervous the same way that people do. Try to remember that the next time Fido cowers among a heap of unrolled toilet paper. And as always, praise and reward works better during training than punishment and aggression.
Depending on your relationship with your dog and your leniency, your dog’s guilt might be hilarious or infuriating. Just remember, a dog who looks guilty isn’t necessarily responsible for any wrongdoing. Be sure not to mistake a dog’s guilty face as reason to scold or punish. What humans perceive as bad behaviors, like chewing up paper or ruining a toy, is just your dog’s way of coping with boredom or anxiety. Don’t be quick to scold. Instead, try to understand the root of the behavior by uncovering what made your dog do it in the first place. Humans tend to transpose complex emotions on our animals, which they’re not capable of understanding or feeling. For example, your dog might know that knocking the trash can over results in scolding, but they doesn’t understand why you don’t want trash all over the floor or them to eat it. To a dog, maybe they’re just bored, lonely, or hungry. They also won’t understand why you’re angry with them hours after the bad behavior. Your dog’s guilt might just be their way of trying to calm you down and avoid what they feel is anger without reason. The next time you suspect your dog of wrongdoing, ask yourself why they may have done it instead of punishing your dog unnecessarily. It may not be their fault at all, since a dog is unable to help themselves from feeling bored or anxious, just as human beings are.
After a long day of work, you arrive home to find the living room in shambles, the stuffing removed from the couch cushions, and the dog nowhere to be found. After carefully searching the house and inspecting the damage, you find your dog hiding in a corner or under your bed, head down, blinking and squinting, and tail wiggling feebly. Some dogs might even “smile” or bare their teeth in what looks like a cheesy grin. All signs of what we perceive as guilty behavior. There is no shortage of guilty dog videos online. But why do dogs look guilty? Are they capable of feeling guilty? What else could make a dog behave that way, and what does it mean? Are dogs manipulating you to get out of punishment?
Do Dogs Like When People Smile?
Most dogs love pleasing their owners and know that smiling is human body language for happiness. The majority of dogs are very good at interpreting human body language. They can tell when we are pleased, sad, or disappointed.
They also know that our happiness often means extra attention, treats, and fun time for them. Not only do they like making us happy, but they like how we treat them when we are happy!
Dogs tend to read the body language that goes along with a human’s smile. They often instinctively understand that smiling and showing teeth is not a human form of aggression (as it might be with other dogs), even if the person is a stranger.
Do Dogs Smile at Other Dogs?
Sometimes, we smile at other people as a social ritual just to express friendliness. Domesticated dogs will do something similar, but they go beyond facial expressions. Dogs use their entire body posture to communicate a message to other dogs, such as “I’m friendly and just want to play,” or, “This is my owner; please keep your distance,” or, “Take one step closer and I’ll let you have it!”
Just as we can tell when people are giving us a “fake” smile, dogs can tell what messages are being conveyed by reading the body language of another dog.
Dogs don’t really mimic our smiles, but they may be triggered to smile more when they see us smiling. Most dogs really like the happy reaction they get when they please humans and quickly learn how to trigger that happy emotion. For some dogs, that includes smiling.
The phenomenon that causes a dog to smile when we smile at them is similar to “laughter contagion.” Just as one person laughing heartily can trigger another person to start laughing, a happy person that smiles can trigger a happy dog to smile back. Vice versa, a grinning dog can trigger an oxytocin release in humans and a happy response.
It is important to remember, however, that every dog is an individual and responds to varying situations differently; what may cause the smile reaction in one animal may not trigger it in another.
Denver Official Guilty Dog Video www.facebook.com/guiltydog
You have probably seen a dog bare its teeth at one point or another. You might have thought it meant “stay away” and you were probably right. But what does it really mean when a dog bares its teeth? Do some dogs smile? If your own dog shows his teeth, is it aggression or is he smiling?
When a dog bares his teeth he is using body language to communicate. Its important to have some understanding of dog body language so you can understand what your dog is trying to tell you.
In dogs, the term “bared teeth” simply means a dog is showing teeth. A dog bares his teeth by curling his lips back to reveal his teeth. It is a reflexive action that occurs in reaction to certain situations. Bared teeth in a dog is often a warning.
In most cases, when a dog bares his teeth he is sending you a clear message to back off. Think of bared teeth as a warning: “I am going to use these teeth if you dont stop it.” This behavior may be a precursor to more serious aggression. This type of dog body language is often accompanied by vocalizations, such as growling and snarling. You may also notice body language that indicates a dog is becoming aggressive, such as erect ears, a rigid body posture, and a tail that is held high and moving back and forth rapidly. If your dogs warning is ignored, the behavior could progress to snapping or biting.
Dogs display aggression for a number of reasons, such as fear, feeling overwhelmed, pain or anticipated pain, overstimulation, resource guarding, and territoriality. No matter the reason a dog becomes aggressive, bared teeth are usually a sign he is being pushed past his comfort zone. If you see a dog with this type of body language, its best to leave this dog alone. Avoid eye contact and carefully step away from the dog.
Occasionally, a dog bares his teeth without any aggressive tendencies behind it. This is referred to as a submissive grin or a smile. It is usually accompanied by non-threatening body language such as lip licking, an averted gaze, a relaxed body posture, and ears sitting flatter against the head. The submissive grin is a type of appeasement gesture intended to calm down a situation. For some pets, the submissive grin can indicate stress and anxiety so it is important to always pay close attention no matter how long your pet has been doing it.
Many veterinarians associate averted gaze and lip licking behaviors with stress and anxiety. If you notice averted gaze or lip licking in your dog during a presumed ‘submissive grin’, attempt to remove the stimulus that causes it as we always want to avoid encouraging stress or anxiety in our pets.
In general, submissive grins are not very common but for few pets can be normal. However, if your dog is grinning because he is stressed or afraid, he could eventually feel threatened enough to get defensively aggressive.