I’ve definitely seen that guilty look on our dog’s face. That’s when he’s not looking happy, defiant or downright cute, of course.
But was he really guilty when I thought he was? Perhaps not, according to some recent research:
…people see ‘guilt’ in a dog’s body language when they believe the dog has done something it shouldn’t have – even if the dog is in fact completely innocent of any offense.
…Whether the dogs’ demeanor included elements of the “guilty look” had little to do with whether the dogs had actually eaten the forbidden treat or not. Dogs looked most “guilty” if they were admonished by their owners for eating the treat. …
This study sheds new light on the natural human tendency to interpret animal behavior in human terms.
[Via : What Really Prompts The Dog's 'Guilty Look'.]
The study referred to in the article quoted above is Horowitz et al. Disambiguating the ‘guilty look’;: Salient prompts to a familiar dog behaviour. Behavioural Processes 2009; 81 (3): 447 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2009.03.014.
So it seems it’s all in my mind: whether he looks guilty or happy may just be me projecting emotions on to him.
