Hee, hee, hee.

I prefer cats, but I've also had dogs for most of my life. Love cats for their intelligence, independence and character. I love dogs for their loyalty, obedience, and utility (guarding, hunting, trainability, etc). I've never understood why people prefer one over the other.
My partner and I just adopted three kittens, and one them of completely has the demeanor of a dog. She completely resembles this guilty look whenever you admonish or berate her for her behavior. Just makes us love her all the more.

http://www.livescience.com/3669-guilty-dog-myth.html

They are dogs not people dammit!

These people shouldn't be allowed to have a goldfish never mind a dog. Without enough exercise and stimuli dogs get bored and frustrated. Not to mention that, in each clip, the dogs look terrified. Not saying all, but in at least two, the dog seemed to know what was coming- once the camera was switched off of course.

needs Sarah McLachlan

If my dog is really bad I make him watch PETA ads. He never does it again.

Dogs don't feel "guilt". That's human anthropomorphism.

Dogs DO however, feel "expectation of punishment". They live in the now. The "guilt" people attribute to them is explained by the owner's actions and behaviour.

Unless you catch them in the act, you're just abusing the dog. It knows not what you're angry about.

They can notice the ripped pillow and go OMFG!!! A RIPPED PILLOW!!! OWNER IS GONNA SHIT ON ME!!! The fact they did it is moot to them, the pillow wasn't ripped, then it was. You have to catch them ripping it or the lesson is lost.

Your comment is not strictly true.
It has been discovered that many animals -especially primates - share many of our emotions. Love, hate, empathy, memory, trust/distrust, fear etc. I do agree that the word "guilt" is a misnomer. However, the dog does, certainly, remember the act. It certainly knows it was wrong. And, as such, will fear the consequences. They do not just live in the "now."
I was brought up with farm dogs, had 2 German Shepherds, and currently have a Tamaskan (mighty Wolf), whose intelligence is scary sometimes. I would agree that many people treat their pets as humans and, as such, anthropormorphise too much. But there is certainly no doubt that, in particular, dogs are far more cognisant than many give them credit for.

They don't make a connection between cause, effect, and responsibility. I wish I could find the video, but I've seen one where an owner is angry his dog keeps spreading the garbage around in his kitchen, and he "knows when it's happened" because the dog looks "guilty" when the owner gets home.

The video was of the owner being told to put the dog in his bedroom, go into the kitchen, throw the garbage around, then go open the bedroom door and leave the house. He comes back after 10 minutes, and the dog greets him "guiltily".

The dog had been "trained" that garbage on the floor of the kitchen meant he was going to get punished. Even though they had video showing the dog merely walked into the kitchen and sniffed a couple items, he still looked "guilty" because the garbage was there.

I guess what I'm saying is a dog doesn't think "I shouldn't do this, because it will create a situation that I'll get in shit for." unless you catch them doing it. Once it's done, and nothing has happened immediately, the dog just ends up confused when you punish them for it.

Also, they don't know conversational English. "WHO ATE THE SHOE?" is meaningless to the dog at 0:50. He just knows your angry and he's being submissive (which is a good dog trait btw).

Who made the mess? has been added as a related post - related requested by PlayhousePals on that post.