Scientists say our dogs really *do* look guilty when they do something bad

http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/whats-hot/scientists-say-our-dogs-really-do-look-guilty-when-they-do-something-bad/ar-BBA5Po0?li=BBnbcA0

Domesticated dogs are the only species on earth, other than humans, that can read a person's face and tell what they're likely thinking. Dogs have a unique gene that makes them more adaptable than most other species, in many different ways. That's partly why they're quickly adapted to become different breeds over relatively short periods of time. They're the ultimate survivors. If reptiles ruled the planet, dogs would probably be more adapted to collaborate with reptiles than with humans.

When a dog acts guilty, it's just his reading your face and acting in a way that they anticipate is likely to elicit the most favorable response from you toward them. I think they do really feel those emotions, but I think it's just the survival mechanism directing them the same way it directs us. When they love us, I think that's real too. In some ways, dogs are more loyal than humans are.

I guess you've never had a dog slink away in shame.

More likely fear than shame.

That doesnt explain my dog slinking in shame after she pooped upstairs.She started acting ashamed the minute I opened the back door when I got home. I was greeting her normally and wasnt aware that she had made a mess until I went upstairs. It wasnt fresh either so she had worried for a while about my reaction.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2017 06:08PM by bona dea.

"The Almighty, who gave the dog to be companion of our pleasures and our toils, hath invested him with a nature noble and incapable of deceit". - Sir Walter Scott

Isn't that interesting?

But then cats never do. They just look at you with their innocent eyes. Cats can do no wrong.

My guess would be that all social species are better adapted to reading the body language which would include facial cues than non-social species. The more cooperation that exists within a social group of the species, the better at reading each other's cues they would need to be. Species which rely less on the cooperation of others wouldn't need this ability to the same extent.

Ours sure do. We scold them if we catch them in the act of being naughty (any time after that is pointless).....and they also look guilty when they're humped over and leaving a "land mine" on the back lawn too....JMHO..lol

Mine hates going outside in inclement weather.

In the wintertime I have to push him outside to do his duty.

Lately when I go to open the door to let him out he runs the opposite direction (and.it's.spring.)

We've been going for more walks lately. Who's got who trained?!

My 98 y.o. Mom died in February. The hospital she was in allows pets to visit.

Pete the Dog was on her bed. He sniffed her hand, and looked at us with the saddest eyes I have ever seen on a dog. I think he knew what was going on.

We had a dog we named Dasher, because as soon as we opened the door, he tried to dash out. Once, we left him in the back yard when we took a short overnight trip. We had a neighborhood boy come over to see he had water, and to feed him (we had saved a bone with a little meat on it for the occasion, beside his usual dinner). Also, he had a nice dry dog-house with a piece of rug in it to lay on, but he didn't like to use it.)

Anyway, when we got home and went to the back door to let him in the house, he had his dirty bone ready to go in with him. We said no, and threw it back into the yard. So (after retrieving his bone), the next time he got invited in he was ready, with the bone in his mouth, but turned himself around so he could come in backwards, in order to sneak it in.

Another time, when he was in the house, my sister opened the front screen door to go out, and he was right at her feet, looking pleadingly at her, "asking" if he could go out with her. My sister looked down at him, and politely asked him, "Oh, would you like to go out also?" He couldn't believe his ears (being invited to go out), and zoom--he was gone. So we got in the car to go find him, and did, and opened the car door and asked him if he'd like to go for a ride (which he loved), and he jumped right in. (Poor critter.) (That's what comes from guessing, rather than actually knowing, what people are saying.)

Seems to me that dogs (at least sometimes) can understand what we say.

My German Shepard, Studs, studied with the noted behavioral psychologist, Barrus Frederick Skinner. He was a top student! For his master's thesis, Studs conducted a series of single-subject phase withdraw experiments, on me, based on Skinner's SRS- Stimulus, Response, Reinforcement- theory.

Stimulus- he barked,
Response- I let him in
Reinforcements- tail wagging and nuzzling

As Skinner noted, after an initial regular reinforcement schedule, he went into the intermittent reinforcement period--sometimes he tail wagged and nuzzled, other times, he ignored me. I found myself paying more attention to Studs to earn the tail wagging and nuzzling. This supported Skinner's assertion that intermittent reinforcement schedules strengthened desired behaviors.

Eventually, I learned Studs was using applied behavioral analysis to record my desired responses and to exterminate my undesired behaviors. Hey, I was the pigeon and he was a psychologist. What's next, thought, pecking at buzzers?

So, to get even, I ignored Studs. Much to my chagrin, he then applied negative reinforcement--that is, Studs took a shit by my desk when I ignored him. Furiously, I cussed Studs out while cleaning up the mess. Studs proceeded to give me positive reinforcement via tail wagging and nuzzling to reinforce my desired behavior of paying him attention. Thus, Skinner's reinforcement theory was replicated.

A dog rules my life! Next time, a golden retriever--they like to please their masters. The Skinnarian's Boner.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2017 09:39PM by BYU Boner.