10/20/2026
Do dogs feel remorse? Do they feel bad about their actions? Many people think dogs feel guilty by the way they look after an event occurs that they shouldn’t have done. The look, like the dog is giving in this photo, can mistakenly be interpreted for guilt or remorse however, dogs don’t have that same capability to feel this way as us humans do. This is something very important to keep in mind as many times they are treated as if they knew they did wrong and knew what we were mad at, but in fact they are actually reacting to our body language, emotions and energy, not what they had done. It is unfair of us to think that “they knew better”. It is unfair to come home and scold your dog for the puddle of p*e or the torn up couch when they may have done it hours earlier and do not understand the correlation between your emotions/energy and their action from prior. We cannot expect them to know why you are mad when the inappropriate action occurred well before your angry outburst. It is unfair to place human understanding on a dog when all they are doing is reacting to your actions rather than the event that occurred.
Side note, this dog never feels guilty, in fact, she relishes in the fact that she can move on from one moment to the next without hanging on to guilt or remorse. This photo simply caught her starting to look up at what I was holding in my hand and interpreting it any other way would be false.
