These comments reveal that a little knowledge is little better than no knowledge at all. For example dogs do live in the present, but what does that mean? If you killed someone ten years ago and live in the present you might not have felt any remorse after the initial event, but if the mother of the person you killed came and visited you, then you might once again experience much remorse-- and this of course would all be happening in the present. Dogs are social mammals and do indeed seem to express many of the same social emotions that human beings do. I can't prove this to the rigorous degree required by science, but informally I am quite sure its true, and it does happen to be the more consistent explanation in light of evolutionary theory-- so I actually accept it as the default position until there is clear evidence to the contrary. To recognize this isn't anthropomorphism. Also considering the special relationship between dogs and humans shaped over the last 14,000 years of co-evolution and it might be more true and fair to realize that dogs, especially, may indeed share many of our social constructs, beyond just the similarities of our mammalian brains. I feel quite certain that dogs feel guilt when they've done something they understand is not socially acceptable. They might not be able to easily help themselves since they can't readily consider the future implications of their actions, but they sure can seem to remember that they did it and they shouldn't have after the fact. Yes dogs are not people and "conceive" the world differently, but you can take this too far and fail to recognize that different species of social mammals often share a lot of "beliefs" in common. Ignoring this can be just as bad in terms of understanding your dog friend as believing dogs are just like people. The bottom line that while some of the videos might take things to the extreme no animals were hurt in the making of them.

Zeus! This ongoing debate has been raging on forever. The only way to settle this once and for all is to let the dogs 'speak' for themselves. Everyone step back...waaaaay back! Stop forcing all the human psychological mumbo jumbo on these innocent animals. Just enjoy and appreciate them for what they are...amazing animals.

So dogs don't understand punishment after the fact. Then someone is going to have to tell me why my dog not only misbehaves, but will actively cover it up...with a pillow, one of my towels, shove it under the furniture and then immediately hangs her head when I find it and I haven't said a word or altered my body language, and no, I don't punish or yell at my dog. Dogs are smarter than you give them credit for. They're not simple minded and their memories are not faulty.

Oh my goodness. If dogs do not feel "guilt", then please, please, please explain why my girl will sit next to the back door with only the tip of her usually over-exuberant tail wiggling back and forth as the boys and I walk in the front door when she has so much as knocked the remote off of the coffee table? She's ALREADY over there, LOOKING GUILTY, before we've even walked in the house. And for the record, she doesn't get "punished" though I'll use the same "mommy voice" that I use with the boys if she's done something she shouldn't. The 'guilt' comes from the sheer number of times that she's knocked drinks and other things off of the coffee table with her big ol' self and her own understanding of the hullabaloo that follows! She is the Mr. Magoo of dogs, truly.

Are you kidding me - if a dog was displaying submissive behavior, he/she would just lie down and roll belly up when you opened the door. If you have ever been lucky enough to have a child wrapped in fur, who does "speak" very clearly, the "guilty" behavior is absolutely a fact - if your dog displays that behavior, and if the leader of the pack knows their dog well enough, they often times show they have been mischevious or done something they know they should not just in their eyes. I have never known any of my pets that did not speak to me or make me aware of their wants, needs or misdeeds. As for my dog, I have never spanked her, but I know if she has been up to something when I open my back door - without even seeing her. If she has been up to mischief, she will not meet me at the door. She is piled up in my bed when I turn the corner to the bedroom with her head facing me, to see my reaction, if she sees displeasure, she waits for me to come to her, to pet her and say it's okay. If she senses or sees it's all good, she jumps off the bed and meets me in the hallway. This has never failed to be the case if she has been up to no good. It isn't half the time, once in a while, it is every time. So, if you have never seen or experienced this behavior, don't pooh pooh it and most definitely don't say that it isn't possible or that the animal isn't capable of such. Say that you are limited in your experience - because that is the situation.

I hate all these "guilty dog" videos. Dogs live in the moment so they don't feel guilt for something they did a while ago because that moment has passed. However, they do feel fear when they hear their owner's disapproving tones. I love the Dog Heirs site and enjoy all the heart warming stories and cute videos but I would expect the people in charge of this site to have a better knowledge of dog behaviour. These videos should be re-titled "Scared/uncomfortable dogs who are not sure what they have done wrong".

It would appear that none of those who have posted comments regarding this video clip have never owned a dog themselves. We have owned many and each have had their own distinct personality. We had two Schnauzers at the same time. Monty would disobey and seemed to live just fine with it. Fritz, however, was different. I could tell merely by the look of him that he had done something he knew he shouldn't. I would go off in search of what he had done, and find it completely because of his guilty look. Right now we own a Dachshund and a Border Collie. The Dachshund does what he can get away with with no apparent remorse, however the Border Collie is a different story. He is SOOO hard on himself when he messes in the house that we don't have the heart to be angry with him. It has nothing to do with anthropomorphism. Dogs CAN be trained. Therefore they know what is appropriate and what is not. If they didn't they couldn't be trained. Also, some dogs desire to please their owners, and others don't have that desire to the same extent. If you believe that a dog can't understand their own behaviours and the consequences of them, then you cannot believe that it is possible for an animal to be trained in any way. I believe that some dogs cannot make the connection to an act of discipline for something that they haven't been caught doing in the act. However, I believe that some certainly can. Therefore it is up to the individual owners to discern their own dog's behaviour and what their dogs understand and do not understand. Children cannot be raised in the exact same way, and neither can dogs.

Classic cases of anthropomorphism. I second what Shelley and Sue said.

Please don't spread misconceptions of dog behavior. There are already to many out there and a large entity such as yourself can do a lot of damage in a short period of time by spreading this kind of false information. Dogs do not connect the wrongdoing to the punishment unless they are caught in the process of the wrongdoing. What these dogs are doing is giving an appeasing behavior because the tone of voice and body language of the owner tells the dogs their owner is not happy and that his emotion is pointed at them. As long as owners continue to believe the behavior these dogs are showing is a 'guilty' behavior, people will continue punishing dogs for something the dogs themselves don't understand. Please consider removing these, or explaining the behavior for what it really is.

I would feel guilty if someone was pointing their finger in my face too. lol. I hate it when people put their fingers up to my face.

Dogs don't act guilty, they act submissive. And, many will act submissive any time you show displeasure towards them, whether they are "guilty" or not. Don't believe me? If you have a dog that will "act guilty," then try this; make a mess, then accuse your dog of making it. I'll bet that your dog will "act guilty." The dog is acting submissive, so that you won't punish it. Never punish a dog that you haven't caught in the act of doing a misdeed. They do not understand the concept of punishment after the fact, will not learn from it, and it is therefore cruel.