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deborahjrossSo often, we assume animals experience human emotions because their outward signs resemble those we humans use, but with different meanings. Here's a research-based discussion on "guilty" behavior in dogs.
While it’s tempting to think your dog acts like a human child would, dog behavior is better framed in an ethological context -- what it means for dogs in dog terms. ...
... Barnard College Associate Professor (and author of “Inside of a Dog”) Alexandra Horowitz, investigated the guilty look with the help of a clever experiment. Owners instructed their dog not to eat a treat, and then left the room. Dogs then either ate the treat or were prevented from doing so. When the owners returned, the researchers sometimes tricked them by telling them that the dog ate the treat when he had not.
The result? If owners scolded them, dogs looked guilty regardless of whether they ate the treat or not. The results were clear: the guilty look was not associated with what dogs did, but with what the owner did. ...
... And misattributing guilt to dogs could be damaging. Wrongly saying Moose’s “feeling guilty” could obscure a deeper truth: Moose doesn’t understand the rules you think you’ve put in place -- and by incorrectly believing you have a bad dog that's willfully disobedient, you’re not doing your relationship, or shoe collection, any favors. While domestication primes dogs for living with us, along with it doesn’t (unfortunately) come some genetic moral code that eating new shoes is wrong but that other good smelling thing you brought home -- a dog toy -- can be torn to pieces.
Another problem with attributing guilt is that it obscures real issues behind “bad” dog behavior. Why did your dog tear up all the toilet paper rolls? Why is that pillow now exposing its 700+ pieces of fluff? When you get angry or forgive your “guilty” dog for demolishing your house, you ignore deeper concerns that, if addressed, could reduce or eliminate those behavior problems. Was the dog bored? Scared? Anxious? Did something change in your routine that confused them? Sadly, scolding dogs after the fact most often doesn’t decrease future detrimental behavior. If anything, the “guilty look” could just become more exaggerated over time as your confused companion develops an anxious cycle of destruction and appeasement.
Maybe it is easier for people to see guilt than it is for them to come to grips with other motivators of behavior like boredom, fear, anxiety, or a dog who just doesn’t get it. The story of the guilty look might be a more comfortable narrative to tell ourselves, but often, our narratives are myths.
Think Your Dog Has A "Guilty" Look? Think Again
While it’s tempting to think your dog acts like a human child would, dog behavior is better framed in an ethological context -- what it means for dogs in dog terms. ...
... Barnard College Associate Professor (and author of “Inside of a Dog”) Alexandra Horowitz, investigated the guilty look with the help of a clever experiment. Owners instructed their dog not to eat a treat, and then left the room. Dogs then either ate the treat or were prevented from doing so. When the owners returned, the researchers sometimes tricked them by telling them that the dog ate the treat when he had not.
The result? If owners scolded them, dogs looked guilty regardless of whether they ate the treat or not. The results were clear: the guilty look was not associated with what dogs did, but with what the owner did. ...
... And misattributing guilt to dogs could be damaging. Wrongly saying Moose’s “feeling guilty” could obscure a deeper truth: Moose doesn’t understand the rules you think you’ve put in place -- and by incorrectly believing you have a bad dog that's willfully disobedient, you’re not doing your relationship, or shoe collection, any favors. While domestication primes dogs for living with us, along with it doesn’t (unfortunately) come some genetic moral code that eating new shoes is wrong but that other good smelling thing you brought home -- a dog toy -- can be torn to pieces.
Another problem with attributing guilt is that it obscures real issues behind “bad” dog behavior. Why did your dog tear up all the toilet paper rolls? Why is that pillow now exposing its 700+ pieces of fluff? When you get angry or forgive your “guilty” dog for demolishing your house, you ignore deeper concerns that, if addressed, could reduce or eliminate those behavior problems. Was the dog bored? Scared? Anxious? Did something change in your routine that confused them? Sadly, scolding dogs after the fact most often doesn’t decrease future detrimental behavior. If anything, the “guilty look” could just become more exaggerated over time as your confused companion develops an anxious cycle of destruction and appeasement.
Maybe it is easier for people to see guilt than it is for them to come to grips with other motivators of behavior like boredom, fear, anxiety, or a dog who just doesn’t get it. The story of the guilty look might be a more comfortable narrative to tell ourselves, but often, our narratives are myths.
Think Your Dog Has A "Guilty" Look? Think Again
