Even then, it’s not the action of getting into the trash that they’re “guilty” about. Did they slink away *while *they were messing in the trash? Of course not. The thought process, for want of a better phrase, in a dog’s head at that moment is roughly, “Uh oh, I always get yelled at when there’s trash on the floor.” Not the past action, but the present condition. It seems utterly rudimentary to connect the two actions, but it is in fact abstract thought beyond the capability of any dog that I have ever known.
I’ve known dogs that could learn an entirely new command in ONE go. Instant recognition of command, and instantly stored in his memory. But I’ve never known a dog that could imagine a string of consequences, abstractly, as a mental exercise.
I read a story in some kind of pet book, where the dog owner herself pulled all the trash out all over the floor, just to see the dog’s reaction When the dog came in and saw the trash on the floor, he slunk away, looking ‘guilty’, because he knew trash on floor = angry owner.
You call it guilt; I’d call it fear. The dog knows it did something wrong and is slinking away because he’s afraid of how you will react.
I do think dogs can learn some behavior from one another. I’ve had up to three dogs at a time. First we had one, a year or two later we got another, then another year or so later, another. Each new dog was easier to housebreak because the other dogs sort of taught the new dog what to do, and the new dog was eager to please the more “alpha” dogs. Mind you, three dogs is sort of a pack, and since at the time there were two humans in the house and three dogs (and a cat), we were outnumbered, and the doggie dynamics were interesting to watch. The top dog, who was the first dog we got and the only female, would snap at the younger dog or dogs when they did something “wrong,” and often the “wrong” thing was something I also would have tried to correct or retrain them out of doing.
Dogs don’t act guilty. They have no concept of guilt, which requires at least a rudimentary concept of a moral code, and an understanding of the difference between right and wrong.
I can tell you. My husband gets all wound up playing games on the Wii (who knew Mario was so challenging?) and starts yelling and swearing at Mario. The dog quietly slinks out of the room, looking over her shoulder worriedly. We have tried and tried to communicate “daddy’s not mad at you” but she doesn’t seem to get it.
Or else she just likes peace and quiet. But the way the dog leaves, it sure looks like she’s convinced that my husband is mad at her.