Dog Trainer Shares Common Misconceptions People Have About Dogs Feeling ‘Guilty’

Have you ever caught your dog doing something he wasn’t supposed to do or after he appeared to know what he was doing was wrong? If so, you’re probably thinking that they feel guilty for responding to you, but Bronagh Daly, certified dog trainer and owner of Five by Five K9, says this is actually a very common misconception.

At the end of October, Bronagh shared a video showing a compilation of the reactions of ‘guilty’ dogs to their mother or father. He explains that these dogs don’t actually feel guilt, but rather fear or stress depending on how people react. It goes into explaining each dog’s reactions and what their actions mean. Make sure your volume is turned up so you can listen as he explains.

Bronagh He ends the video by reminding us that these dogs show stress symptoms And fear reactions in response their hostages behavior is not because they feel guilty. Ears pinned back, whale eyesavoiding eye contact and appeasement are signs of stress and fear, not guilt, although it may seem that way to us.

Commenters had varying opinions about the video. @JConti received over 120 likes when she said “This makes me even happier” feeling sad. I never skip these videos. I would never want my babies to feel that way.” @BizarreAnimal shared: “TBH, I believe guilt is rare in humans too. If a child makes a mess and the parent doesn’t seem happy, the behaviors are almost the same. They usually don’t think they’ve betrayed trust or done something bad, they just try to appease them because they don’t want to be scolded. 9/10, they will do it again but they will try harder to avoid getting caught.”

Related: Guilty Dog Tries to Ignore Mom After Being Caught Red-handed

Can Dogs Feel Guilt?

Bronagh says in her title that dogs cannot react to anything that happened more than 3-5 seconds ago. If they shredded a roll of toilet paper 20 minutes ago, they may sense that you’re angry about something, but they have no idea why. Psychology Today explains this Dogs can’t feel guilt like humans but they understand our feelings and respond in kind.

Pascale Lemire, New York Times bestselling author Dog Shaming “I don’t think dogs actually feel shame,” he explains. “I think they know how to calm us down with that sad puppy dog ​​look that makes us think they’re ashamed of what they’ve done. My guess is they’re thinking, ‘Oh man, my owner is really upset about something but I don’t know what he’s upset about, but when I look at him with that sad expression on his face he seems to calm down. , so let’s try again.'”

The Psychology Today article also shared the following: “The obvious conclusion is that dogs react with a guilty and embarrassed look not because they perceive they have done something wrong, but because they are afraid of what will happen next.” This makes sense because we all know how smart dogs are. Just like our children, they learn that giving us guilty and embarrassed looks often makes things a little easier. It’s hard to stay angry when you see those big, beautiful eyes looking at you as if they’re apologizing to mom or dad!

Looking for more PetHelpful updates? follow us YouTube For more entertaining videos. Or share your own cute pet like this: send videoand sign up for us newsletter For the latest pet updates and tips.