This guilty look that your dog gives you is not really guilty

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As a dog owner, we have all experienced the classic “guilty” expression on the faces of our pets after doing something that they shouldn't have done. We may think that your behavior indicates guilt, but in reality our dogs express a simpler emotion: fear. This revelation comes from a study from 2009, which the dog cognitive scientist Dr. Alexandra Horowitz was carried out, the books such as "The inside of a dog: what dogs see, smell and know" and "be a dog: to follow the dog in a world" wrote smell. " The study shows that people tend to do this, dog emotions due to ...
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As a dog owner, we have all experienced the classic “guilty” expression on the faces of our pets after doing something that they shouldn't have done. We may think that your behavior indicates guilt, but in reality our dogs express a simpler emotion: fear.

This revelation comes from a study from 2009, which was from the dog cognitive scientist Dr. Alexandra Horowitz was carried out, the books such as "The inside of a dog: what dogs see, smell and know" and "be a dog: to follow the dog in a world" wrote smell. " The study shows that people tend to assign dog emotions incorrectly due to our own emotions, and the "guilty" look is a prime example.

According to Dr. Horowitz is the guilt -conscious look - ducking, showing the white in the eyes and putting on the ears - rather an indication of fear in response to information from the owner (such as scolding) than on actual guilt. Dogs may not have the same "executive function" as people, which means that they probably don't think about their past actions and decide that they have done something wrong.

The study showed:

  • "Attempts changed the opportunity for dogs not to obey the command of an owner, not to eat a desirable treat, while the owner was not in the room, and changed the knowledge of the owners about what their dogs did in their absence."
  • "The results showed no difference in the behavior in connection with the guilty look. In contrast, such behaviors were observed more often in experiments when owners insulted their dogs. The effect of the scraping was more pronounced if the dogs were obedient and not disobedient."

  • "" These results indicate that a better description of the so -called culprit view is that he is a reaction to information from the owner instead of showing an appreciation for a misstatement. "

to express the somewhat concise, the study showed that dogs that showed a "guilty" look actually showed more fear of scolding ("owner notes") as feelings of guilt ("recognition of a misdeition").

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While our understanding of the emotions and memories of dogs still develops, the numerous advantages of dogs in our lives cannot be denied. Studies have shown that dogs offer their human companions physical, emotional and social advantages. A study by the American Heart Association showed that possession of dogs is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases, while other studies have shown that interaction with dogs reduces blood pressure, reduce stress and improve general mental health.

In addition, it turned out that dogs are helpful in social situations and help people with autism or other social disabilities to combine with others. It was even shown that the bond between man and dog releases the hormone oxytocin, which promotes feelings of love and trust and is decisive for the formation of strong social bonds.

Since we are increasingly learning about the emotional life of our four -legged companions, it is important to recognize and appreciate the countless possibilities of how they influence our lives positively. Regardless of whether they have feelings of guilt like people or not, dogs offer us industrial society, love and support.

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