Canine Training Sydney – Classes & In-Home Training -Guilt in dogs

Canine Training Sydney – Can Dogs Feel Guilty?

If dogs are able to feel similar emotional responses to humans, does that mean that they can also feel guilty? Canine Training Sydney offers puppy schools, obedience and agility classes in Sydney and in-home training!

People often think that their dogs feel guilty after they have done something wrong. However, to feel “guilt,” a person must have not only a sense of self but also an understanding of how their behaviour has affected others and how it will affect others. Because a dog’s thinking brain is smaller than that of a human, it is believed that the dogs aren’t able to generate something as complex as the self-consciousness needed to feel guilty.

What people see as guilt is more likely just the dog’s reaction to our body language. They learn very quickly when our body language indicates something good for them and when not. And they simply try and calm us down by “looking guilty”.