USA Dog Behavior Podcast
Are you struggling with a dog that is anxious, fearful, or aggressive? You’re at the right place. In this audio podcast series, Scott Sheaffer will explore insights and strategies to guide dog owners, veterinary practices, and dog trainers in overcoming these issues using scientific and humane methods.
USA Dog Behavior Podcast
Are Dogs Remorseful After Biting People?
Can dogs truly feel remorse after they bite someone, or is it just our interpretation of their behavior? Uncover the reality behind canine emotions as I address common myths about dogs and their reactions to biting incidents. I'll dive into the instinctual behaviors of dogs, shedding light on how they respond to stress and fear.
Join us for an eye-opening discussion on canine behavior that will change the way you understand your furry friends. I'll share findings from research on dog behavior and offers valuable resources, including a free 49-minute video on reading dog body language.
Whether you're a dog owner, trainer, or veterinary professional, this episode is packed with insights to help you better interpret your dog's stress signals and improve your approach to managing fear and aggression. Tune in and gain a deeper understanding of the true nature of your dog's emotions.
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Ep. 39 Are Dogs Remorseful After Biting People?
Episode Link(s):
Understanding Dog Body Language
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Resources:
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Scott Sheaffer's Dog Behavior Articles
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About Scott Sheaffer
Scott Sheaffer, CCBC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA, is a certified dog behavior consultant who has worked with thousands of dog owners and their aggressive dogs. Scott specializes in the assessment and treatment of fear, anxiety, aggression, and phobias in dogs six months and older. For more information about Scott, see USADogBehavior.com.
Disclaimer
If your dog is aggressive toward humans, consult an experienced, certified canine behavior consultant immediately and ensure your dog cannot harm anyone. This podcast is for educational purposes only and does not replace professional guidance. Scott Sheaffer and USA Dog Behavior, LLC, are not liable for outcomes resulting from the advice provided.
We've got a really interesting topic lined up for you today. We're going to dig into a question that many dog owners wonder about Are dogs remorseful after they bite someone? Let's get into it. Are you struggling with a dog that is anxious or aggressive? You're at the right place because in this podcast series, we educate dog owners, veterinary practices and dog trainers on how to overcome dog fear and aggression using humane methods. My name is Scott Sheaffer and it's my mission to help you better understand your dog's behavior. Before we get going today. I just want to mention briefly that you can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube. I provide a link in the episode notes that will take you directly to the video at the Grumpy Dogs channel. You can also search for Grumpy Dogs channel on YouTube to find us. All right, let's get started. Grumpy Dogs channel on YouTube to find us. All right, let's get started.
Scott Sheaffer:We often hear stories or see videos of dogs looking guilty after they've done something that they shouldn't have, like chewing a shoe, using the bathroom in the living room or getting into the trash. But what about more serious incidents like biting someone, like a visitor to your home, for example? Can dogs actually feel remorse after they do this? It's a fascinating topic and to answer it we need to understand a bit about canine emotions and behavior. They're a little bit different than humans. First off, it's important to recognize that dogs don't experience emotions exactly the same way that we do. They don't have the same complex understanding of right and wrong that we have, or should I say, most of us have. They live in a much more primal world of thinking. To summarize that when we see those sad puppy eyes after they've done something bad, summarize that when we see those sad puppy eyes after they've done something bad, what we're seeing is a reaction to our own body language, us. They're responding to us and our tone of voice. Dogs are incredibly perceptive and can pick up on our emotions very easily. Anyone that's had a dog more than a moment knows that. But let's break this down a little bit.
Scott Sheaffer:When a dog bites someone, it's usually a response to a situation where they felt threatened or scared, even when the dog's owner may not perceive that their dog felt threatened or scared in that moment. It's a natural instinct by the dog, not a premeditated action. After the incident they might appear to look guilty, but this is more about the response to the human's reaction rather than an understanding of the bite itself. And humans interpret some dog body language as a look of guilt and when it's actually really fear? Think about it.
Scott Sheaffer:When a dog bites, the immediate aftermath almost always involves if you're honest about it a lot of shouting, sudden movements by the people and just general chaos from the dog's owner. The dog can sense the tension, of course, and anxiety from the people around them. They might cower, lower their ears, avoid eye contact all things that dogs do when they're scared. This isn't necessarily remorse. It's more likely a sign of stress and confusion, because they can tell that something bad has happened in their environment and they're picking up on how upset the people are in the room. Do you know the signs of stress in your dog? I've included a link in the episode notes that will take you to a free 49-minute video I have on how to read dog's body language. This is a 49-minute video that's actually a condensed version of a half-day course or a half-day seminar that I do on canine body language. In this video I cover stress behaviors. It's important to know these if you have a fearful or aggressive dog to properly interpret what is going on. This information will give you a deeper understanding of what your dog is telling you when they're stressed. Before we go on, let me remind you that you can find additional dog behavior articles, videos and podcast information by going to our website, which is grumpydogspodcastcom.
Scott Sheaffer:Let's continue our discussion about dog remorse. To give you a bit more context, let's look into some studies. Research on canine behavior suggests that what we interpret Studies Research on canine behavior suggests that what we interpret meaning humans as guilt or remorse is actually a submissive response to our behavior, which is kind of what we've been talking about. Alexandra Horowitz, a well-known researcher in dog cognition, conducted a fascinating and watershed study to me that showed dogs only display these guilty in air quotes there behaviors when they are scolded by their owners, regardless of whether they actually committed a misdeed or not. So we had the owners do these behaviors, these scary behaviors around the dog, the confusion, the yelling, all this kind of stuff that owners do when the dog bites somebody, but they would do it with actual triggering events going on and without, and in both cases the dogs emitted exactly the same behaviors. So it's less about feeling bad for the action and more about reacting to their owner's disappointment or anger or rage or loud voice, etc. After something like this happens. It's clear that while dogs may not feel remorse in the way humans do, they are definitely affected by our reactions. This is why it's so important to approach training and behavior modification with a calm and controlled demeanor.
Scott Sheaffer:I really say this so much to my private clients that they probably get tired of hearing me say it. It's that important. Yelling or acting aggressively can actually make the situation much worse for your dog. It increases your dog's stress and potentially leads to more aggressive behavior in the future. And you know what I know? It's hard to keep your cool when these events are happening. It really is. It really is hard, but you have to consciously do it.
Scott Sheaffer:So what should you do if your dog actually does bite someone? If you're a regular listener to my podcast, you know that what we want to do is to get ahead of this situation before it happens in the first place. In many of my episodes I cover these kinds of things. But let's say, a bite does happen. Someone is coming to your home, for example, and a new person to your dog, and your dog runs up to him and bites him. What do you do?
Scott Sheaffer:First, immediately remove your dog from physical access and line of sight to any people, especially the person who was just bitten. And what I mean by line of sight is I don't want the dog to be able to see into the room. I want to get the dog physically away from the people and especially the person that was bitten, and I want the dog not to be able to see anything. So what am I talking about? Putting them in a room and closing the door would be a great, great way to do that. And I want as much calm as possible from you while doing this, as we've been talking about. If you're not kind of calm and cool and collected, it will only make the situation worse for your dog and really for the humans too. And next, secondly, see if anyone this is kind of common sense is injured and seek medical attention immediately, if necessary, of course. And if you're in doubt whether you need to seek medical attention, then seek medical attention.
Scott Sheaffer:At this point you're just managing the situation. We're not doing any kind of behavior modification or teaching your dog anything or anything like that. We're just separating the dog, no line of sight, getting medical care to the person if needed, once the dog and humans have been attended to think about what may have triggered this bite, maybe even make notes about where everyone was standing, where the dog was standing, where the people were standing, what immediately preceded the bite, the dog's body language, the type were standing, what immediately preceded the bite, the dog's body language, the type of bite even a picture is kind of cool if you can do that. I always find all this information, especially a picture of the bite. A lot of times you can get that if you get medical care. If not, take a picture that is very instructional for me and other behavior specialists to look at and so we can really piece together what exactly happened so we know where to proceed. A good behavior specialist will want to know all of these details.
Scott Sheaffer:What's next after a bite? Behavior modification and safety management are critical with dogs that are biting. You'll work with your dog on desensitization and counter conditioning and we have a lot of this in our prior episodes to the trigger that preceded the bite. Positive reinforcement techniques can help your dog learn alternative behaviors and feelings about the triggers. With most bite scenarios, I almost always recommend that the dog owners seek the help of an experienced and legitimate canine behavior specialist. There's a lot to untangle after a bite, and someone who legitimately knows what they're doing can help you and your dog with this. Let's summarize While dogs may not feel remorse in the way that we think of it, they do react to our emotions and can feel stressed and anxious when we are upset.
Scott Sheaffer:So the dog is already stressed when it bites and then when we react really in an upset way, it only makes it worse. The key is to approach these situations with calm and understanding, focusing on prevention and positive reinforcement to help your dog feel safe and secure and never bite again. If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcast platform and if you're watching this on YouTube, do the same there. Please contact me directly with your comments and suggestions at grumpydogspodcastcom, where you can find my social media links. See you next time. Thank you for joining me today. Don't forget to subscribe and share this podcast with other dog lovers. Stay tuned for our next episode, where we'll continue our dive into the world of dog behavior.
