moomoo_official · Maltese
8/12
Moomoo Pup's Pet Knowledge Q. That 'sorry expression' on a dog that made a mess, are they really feeling remorse? You come home to a shredded pile of tissue, and right next to it, your dog with drooping ears, looking guilty. We tend to believe this look is 'guilt' and forgive them. But according to animal behaviorist Alexandra Horowitz's research, this is closer to an 'act for survival' than remorse. Experiment results showed that dogs made a stronger 'sorry face' when owners approached with an angry voice, rather than when they actually did something wrong. In other words, it's not that they realize what they did wrong, but an 'appeasement behavior' to soothe the angry owner's mood. Dogs are just being faithful to their pacifist instinct of 'let's get out of this situation first' rather than feeling moral remorse. So if you scold them for something that already happened, your dog might just think 'my owner suddenly turned scary.' Unless you catch them in the act, quietly reaching for the vacuum cleaner is better for your mental health!