Dog owners know this situation too well – you come back home and the puppy is super excited and playful, but suddenly you notice the mess around the garbage cans, or the remnants of shredded paper towel scattered all over the house, or destroyed shoes. The angry shout of “Who did this?!” is enough to produce a total change in the dog’s behavior. Suddenly the dog becomes quiet, goes to a corner, and makes apologetic eyes, expressing shame – like he would want to say: “I’m so sorry owner, I feel so ashamed, it won’t happen again”.
But do dogs really feel shame? Scientists don’t believe that such complex emotions ,like shame or guilt, can be felt by dogs. Research on this subject was done by Alexandra Horowitz, an associate professor of psychology at Barnard College in New York City. She recorded a group of dogs and how they behave when the owner tells them not to eat a treat and then left the room. When the owners came back, sometimes they knew that the dog ate the treat, and sometimes they did not. And in some cases the dogs had eaten the treat, and in others they didn’t. The finding showed that the “ashamed look” that dogs where expressed was a response to the owner’s scolding their dogs, and wasn’t shown when the dogs only ate the treat. That would be an argument in favor of dogs not having such emotions as shame.
But let’s leave scientific research for a moment and take a look at this poor doggie:
How can scientists be so cruel, and say that he doesn’t feel guilt? Even if he really doesn’t feel any shame, he’s certainly a good actor!
If you liked this video, you’ll like this one too: Man Asks Who Is Reponsible for the Mess, How His 2 Dogs React Next Make Me Burst out Laughing. In this video the owner scolds two dogs, but only one responds with the look of shame – take that scientists! 😉
