Do Dogs Feel Guilt? What Does the 'Guilty Look' Mean?

It is typical and common for pet owners to perceive emotions among their canine friends. These dogs tend to have animated facial expressions and expressive body language as they try to communicate their emotions to their human friends. However, there is a pressing question regarding dog emotions: do dogs feel guilt?

A Dog's 'Guilty Look'

It is likely for pet owners to have caught their dog doing something naughty, whether in the act or after the deed is done. At times, the dog's body language may seem to exhibit guilt.

These guilty-looking dogs may exhibit certain signs or behaviors, including having a tucked tail, having a hunched and cowering posture, licking, flattening their ears, avoiding eye contact, and visible whites of the eyes.

However, several experts agree that this case is actually a classic demonstration of a phenomenon known as anthropomorphism, which involves the attribution of human behavior or characteristics to animals.

A study from 2009 looked into the "guilt look" of these canine friends. The authors observed both the owners and the dogs in various circumstances. As such, the researchers found out that the dogs exhibited guilt-like body language more frequently when they got scolded compared to when the owners stayed neutral. This was regardless of whether a wrong deed was done or not.

Dr. Alexandara Horowitze, the dog cognition scientist behind the study, concluded that this guilty look is a response to the cues of the owner.

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Guilt, Fear, Stress, and Appeasing

The earlier mentioned behavior and signs of "guilt" in dogs actually point to stress and fear. Though they could possibly signify a feeling of guilt, this leaves a huge dilemma for researchers. The question lies in whether these canines are truly capable of understanding how they broke the rules and consequently feel bad about their disobedience. As such, it may also be possible that they are just responding to the body language and voice changes exhibited by the pet owner in order to appease their owners.

The concept of guilt is quite hard to grasp as it involves understanding how cause and effect work in connection to a time element. As such, this notion is difficult to prove. Dogs do not verbally express how they feel. Hence, what they exactly think about remains a mystery for humans.

Applied animal behaviorist Dr. Mary R. Burch notes that when a dog exhibits guilt for doing something naughty, it is likely that this behavior was done before and that the dog could have experienced quite a strong reaction from the owner. As such, the dog could now predict its owner's reaction and, thus, demonstrate body language to appease the owner.

With consistent training, pups can learn acceptable and appropriate behavior. They can learn what humans deem right and wrong. However, whether dogs feel guilty or not is something that humans cannot know with certainty. It remains an unanswered question.