All dog owners know their pets display guilt when confronted with having done wrong. The dog looks back at you with her head down and skulks, right? She knows she’s done wrong – peeing on the floor, tearing up the newspaper, scratching the couch. Pure guilt.

It’s not, actually. John Bradshaw, founder of the Anthrozoology Institute at Bristol University, has been studying dogs and their owners for over twenty-five years. He describes a test he administered to see what made dogs look guilty. Fourteen dog owners suggested various features of dog guilt. They had