2am Dog Questions; Does Your Dog Know They Have Done Something Wrong?
- muttsandmischief
- 7 days ago
- 1 min read
š¾ 2am Dog Questions: Does my dog know theyāve done something wrong?
You know that look.
The lowered body. The ears. The looking away. Perhaps quietly disappearing when you discover the remains of something that definitely used to be a cushionā¦
It can look remarkably like guilt.
But rather than assuming our dogs understand that they have broken a human rule, it can be much more useful to notice what theyāre responding to right now.
A change in our voice.
Our facial expression.
Our posture.
The sudden appearance of the face when we discover the crime scene.
Dogs are wonderful observers of us.
So instead of asking:
āDo they know theyāve done something wrong?ā
Try asking:
āWhat is my dog noticing, predicting or responding to in this moment?ā
Curiosity gives us somewhere to go. Judgement rarely does.
Behaviour makes more sense when we look at the whole picture.
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