If you get back home after work and see a chewed-up shoe, and perhaps perceive your dog looks “guilty.” They’re squinting, lowering their head, avoiding eye contact and tucking their tail perhaps. You can automatically think they know they did something wrong.
Research shows that dogs do not actually experience the complex social emotion of guilt the way humans do. What you are seeing is a stress response.
That slinking posture is a series of appeasement gestures. Your dog has sensed your change in tone, heart rate, or body language and smelt your emotions. They aren’t saying I’m sorry about the shoe, they are displaying body language and mannerisms that are trying to calm you down. Some dogs can always try to be silly and act the clown in these situations too.
We must remember that dogs live in the present. If you get angry at them 20 minutes after they chewed a shoe, they don’t link your reaction to the shoe—they link the yelling to you walking through the front door.
Instead manage the environment. If they can’t be trusted with the items, then put them away and give them things they can chew, organise treat searches, puzzles etc. Set them and you up for success.
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