Comments on: Guilty Dog?

By: Cold Nose College

Cold Nose College — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:08:01 +0000

In reply to Sio.

Hi Sio,

Indeed, if a dog has been reprimanded or punished previously for a certain behavior (such as inappropriate elimination), the dog has learned to expect the human to display the body language that appears when you’re reprimanding/punishing (think about how you look when you’re yelling at your dog…probably pretty scary). Dogs read even tiny muscle movements of our face. This sounds like a learned behavior from the previous times you have reprimanded him. If you have your dog a chance to eliminate before you put him in the truck, then it could be stress defecation. You might try using some DAP (dog appeasing pheromone) and spraying it in the truck 15 minutes before placing your dog in the truck.

By: Sio

Sio — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:18:51 +0000

How do you explain a dog that looks guilty when it’s done something it knows it shouldn’t do (reprimanded previously) but you haven’t discovered the wrong doing yet? My 2 year old dog pooped in the back of my truck while we were driving to the park 5 minutes from our house. I should mention that the back of my truck has a cap. When I opened the door of the cap he looked guilty BUT i hadn’t even noticed the poop yet. Several times I have opened the back when he has not pooped and he doesn’t look guilty. He only looks guilty or “sheepish” when he’s done it. I don’t look mad when I open the back…unless he looks guilty!! Then I look for the poop.

By: admin

admin — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 23:10:59 +0000

In reply to Laura. Indeed, Laura. Thanks for helping spread the solid info. Wags & Woofs!

By: Laura

Laura — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 22:17:17 +0000

Yes! So many people are confused by pop culture’s take on “guilty” dogs. Remember the experiment in which dogs “acted guilty” for rubber dog poop? 🙂 It’s the human emotions at work here, not the dogs’!

By: admin

admin — Wed, 04 May 2011 13:16:36 +0000

In reply to Carla Boudrot. Thanks so much for your post, Carla. Yes, let's do all we can to help others better understand their dogs. Please feel free to share.

By: Carla Boudrot

Carla Boudrot — Wed, 04 May 2011 13:08:45 +0000

Thank you, thank you, thank you. It’s hard to explain this to people when it is posted and reposted and reposted as “guilty dog”. I even saw this video posted by DOG TRAINERS!!