I came across dogshaming.com because my daughter shared it with me on Facebook. It was quite funny, I laughed out loud. I even bought the book; Dog Shaming, by Pascale Lemire. But do dogs feel shame or guilt? I personally think not. I read an article recently that stated; The guilty look (on a dog) has been perfected to clam down the owner. According to a new study, dogs are only reacting to the body language of their human.
“They may use puppy dog eyes to try to placate their owners but dogs aren’t sorry” I agree.
If your dog has done something you are not pleased with your reaction is usually quite scary. The dog reacts to your tone of voice and body language. Of course the dogs looks shamed, he is most likely startled and wants you to stop yelling. The dog usually has no idea what he is guilty of especially if the bad behavior happened awhile ago. It is useless to scold a dog for something that happened while you were at work. The dog must be caught in the act and then gently reprimanded, positive training is the only thing that works.
My dogs have no shame or guilt, I never get “puppy eyes”. Penny is my most, shall we say energetic dog. She has a habit of torturing the other dogs, if I yell at her in frustration she simply ignores me. She feels no shame. Carl who is the oldest dog and very well behaved will occasionally lift his little leg on the furniture. When I catch him doing it. I am annoyed and scold him immediately. He looks at me without any guilt what so ever and just keeps on peeing.
So much for dog shaming in this house!
AGREE? DISAGREE? Send me your thoughts at connie@dogshowconfidential.com and I will discuss in a future post.