If You Scold Your Dog, This Is What That Guilty Face Actually Means

You walk in, the trash can is on its side, and your dog is already flat on the floor with its ears pinned back. You haven't said a word yet. So what is that face asking you for? In 2009, a researcher at Barnard College filmed fourteen dogs, a biscuit on a coffee table, and owners who had been told the wrong story about what happened while they were out of the room. The biggest guilty faces in the study came from the dogs you'd least expect. Three years later, a lab in Budapest ran the test again, and owners trying to spot the rule-breaker from the look alone did no better than a coin toss. This video breaks that face down into the six movements you've seen in your own hallway. One of them tells you how a dog has been handled in the past. You'll also find out why your dog takes the butter off the counter only when one particular light is off, and what to do tonight the next time you walk in on a mess. If your dog has ever growled, gone stiff, snapped or lunged when you confronted it, stop confronting it and speak to a veterinary behaviorist. Subscribe to UnWoof and let's Unwoof your best friend together. CHAPTERS 00:00 The face at the front door 00:32 The biscuit on the coffee table 01:41 A coin toss in Budapest 02:42 Six movements you've already seen 04:00 The butter that disappears when you go upstairs 05:12 Yelling "no," staring, and the jowl grab 05:54 Fifty-six lip licks in fifteen minutes 06:31 The sixth movement 07:17 Back to the hallway STUDIES MENTIONED Horowitz, A. (2009). Disambiguating the "guilty look": Salient prompts to a familiar dog behaviour. Behavioural Processes. Hecht, J., Miklósi, Á., & Gácsi, M. (2012). Behavioral assessment and owner perceptions of behaviors associated with guilt in dogs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. Kaminski, J., Pitsch, A., & Tomasello, M. (2013). Dogs steal in the dark. Animal Cognition. Herron, M. E., Shofer, F. S., & Reisner, I. R. (2009). Survey of the use and outcome of confrontational and non-confrontational training methods in client-owned dogs showing undesired behaviors. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. Vieira de Castro, A. C., et al. (2020). Does training method matter? Evidence for the negative impact of aversive-based methods on companion dog welfare. PLOS ONE. #dogbehavior #dogtraining #doglovers