In last month's episode of Pet Talk, Dr. Sarah provided us with fun and simple ways to tap into a cat's innate problem solving skills while helping avoid the behavioral and physical consequences of sedentary living. If you missed this video on making safe but fun DIY toys for cats, be sure to watch that next.

This month, Sarah’s back with more in-depth info on why it’s important for your cat to have regular play times. It’s partly due to their unique evolution, but also because their minds require stimulation for a long and healthy life.

Be sure to share this video with friends and family, especially if they are cat lovers. And, please leave your comments if this Pet Talk episode is helpful to you.

If you have had the opportunity to share your life with a dog, then you are probably familiar with ‘the guilty look’. Dog lovers will instantly recognize this classic expression as the one your pup adopts when you discover that he’s gotten into the trash, chewed up your good shoes, or dug a deep pit in your yard. But is he experiencing feelings of guilt behind those puppy dog eyes?

We certainly seem to think so. Seventy-four percent of dog lovers believe that their pups experience some form of guilt. But is it the same sort of guilt we feel, or is it a complex canine behavior that has been anthropomorphized, and is perhaps triggered by something else entirely?

This question is so hotly debated, canine behavior researchers decided to test the theory, and hopefully provide some answers. Consider two recent, credible studies that explored ‘the guilty look’.

In both, researchers ingeniously set up conditions to discover the origins of guilty behaviors in dogs. Based on their findings, they ascertained that the dog’s reaction is tied to the owner’s scolding, not the previous misdeed. This certainly seems to back up what many of us suspect, that humans have a natural tendency to want to interpret animal behavior in human terms.

There is plenty of evidence for what scientists refer to as primary emotions, such as happiness and fear, in non-human animals. Empirical evidence for secondary emotions like pride and jealousy, however, is extremely rare in animal cognition literature. The argument usually given for this lack of evidence is that such secondary emotions seem to require a higher level of cognitive sophistication, particularly when it comes to self-awareness or self-consciousness, that may not exist in non-human animals.

Put simply, guilt is complicated.

A group of canine cognition researchers from Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, published several studies in Applied Animal Behavior Science investigating ‘the guilty look’. In a 2009 study, pet parents reported that their dogs sometimes display guilty behavior when greeting owners. They claimed to be unaware of their dog doing anything bad, and asserted that it was the dog’s guilty behavior that told them about the dog’s infraction. However, researchers found there was no significant difference between obedient and disobedient dogs in their display of ‘guilty looks’ after having the opportunity to break a rule when the pet parents were absent.

But wait, say pet parents. ‘Guilty look’ behaviors are displayed even when dogs aren’t scolded. So, in a 2015 study these same behaviorists investigated whether the dogs' own actions or the evidence of a misdeed might serve as triggering cue for the guilty behavior. If the ‘guilty look’ was based on some sort of ‘guilt’ as often claimed by dog lovers, then the cue triggering this behavior would have to be linked to the dog’s own action, namely whether the dog has or has not done something “bad”. They tested this by manipulating whether or not dogs ate a ‘forbidden’ food item and whether or not the food was visible upon the return of pet parents. The findings indicate that the dogs did not show the ‘guilty look’ in the absence of scolding. So, at least in this study, the ‘guilty look’ was not influenced by the dog’s own bad behavior.

So, we have ample anecdotal evidence from pet parents, but little evidence from published studies to support this claim.

What do you think? Can dogs express the complicated emotion of guilt, or is it a series of subordinate behaviors that originate from the social cues given by their pet parents? Leave your comments in the section below!

References

Hecht, J., et al., Behavioral assessment and owner perceptions of behaviors associated with guilt in dogs. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (2012), doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2012.02.015

Horowitz A (2009). Disambiguating the "guilty look": salient prompts to a familiar dog behaviour. Behavioural processes, 81 (3), 447-52 PMID: 19520245

Ljerka Ostojić, Mladenka Tkalčić, Nicola S. Clayton Are owners' reports of their dogs’ ‘guilty look’ influenced by the dogs’ action and evidence of the misdeed? Behavioural Processess Volume 111, February 2015, Pages 97–100

We’re pleased to announce one of the latest recipients of financial aid from The Dr. Jane Foundation. This month’s featured beneficiary is a committed group of rescuers dedicated to improving the lives of abandoned, abused and neglected dogs and cats in New Jersey and surrounding areas.

New Jersey Aid for Animals, Inc., is a no-kill animal protection charity striving to end the suffering of animals through advocacy, fostering and adoption. In continuous operation for over a decade, this committed non-profit group has fought to improve the lives of dogs, cats and other domestic animals in New Jersey. Without state or municipal financial assistance, they rely on individual gifts, community events and private foundation support to cover the costs of day-to-day operations.

This rescue has made a phenomenal difference in the lives of hundreds of dogs and cats. At any given time, they have the capacity to accommodate nine dogs at a time and approximately a dozen cats. Because they are small, they can devote all necessary resources to each creature in need.

NJAFA envisions a not-too-distant future absent animal cruelty. Their stated mission is no less than to “enrich the life of every animal we touch, provide programs for domestic animals on wellness, humane education, spay and neuter with a focus on impoverished communities; and to report abuse and pursue justice for abused animals”.

Their day-to-day activities are many and varied. Whenever they encounter animal abuse, they report it. They follow such cases and work to prosecute animal abuses. Of course, their primary efforts include rescuing and aiding abused and abandoned animals. NJAFA works diligently to keep families together by providing affordable veterinary care to low-income communities. But that’s not all, they also educate pet parents on all kinds of companion animal care, including the importance of curbing pet overpopulation. As you can see, no task is too small, or too big, for this determined organization.

New Jersey Aid for Animals has big plans for their financial award. Funds have been allocated to a low-cost veterinary care clinic scheduled for next spring, benefitting low-income families in the Camden City area. Participants will qualify for highly reduced rates for common veterinary procedures. Our donation will specifically make possible flea treatments and necessary vaccines for the low cost of $10 per companion animal. As this group has witnessed firsthand, providing affordable medical care for the fur kids of impoverished households can mean the difference between keeping animals at home with their pet parents and painful, unwanted abandonments.

Additionally, remaining funds not allocated to next spring’s event were used to cover flea treatments for a group of cats who were recently rescued from a hoarding situation. The infestation was so severe that rescuers worried some of the felines might die. However, thanks to our award, these kitties are now flea-free!

Thanks to this group’s diligent work and top-notch planning, the Board’s choice to support this application with a sizable donation was a straightforward, happy one.

Some of NJAFA’s happily adopted animals.

If you or someone you know would be interested in adopting a rescue animal in or near Camden, we encourage you to stop by New Jersey Aid for Animals (njafa.org). You never know … you could end up finding your new best friend!

As the charitable arm of Life’s Abundance, The Dr. Jane Foundation provides financial support to small and medium-size rescue groups who work to prevent animal homelessness, abuse and chronic neglect. Every time someone purchases a Life's Abundance product, a portion of the profits are contributed to the Foundation’s operating fund.

And there’s more good news … we are still accepting applications for funding. If you know of an animal rescue organization that deserves special recognition and financial support, please encourage them to
fill out an application.

Check back next month for more good news from The Dr. Jane Foundation. Together, we’re making a difference!