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Hi all. I have a question about the "guilty look" that dogs offer after they do something wrong that everyone claims is not actually guilt but fear that we are angry with them and are about to deliver a horrible punishment. But first, a (what I fear will be a very long) story leading up to the event.
Hobbes has been with us for a little over a year. We got him from a local rescue when he was around a year old. We had a lot of work to do on training him when we got him, and we have always used positive reinforcement methods (unless you consider the word "No" to be an aversive, in which case mild positive punishment has also been employed from time to time. We have never used any of the dominance theory methods and Hobbes has never been hit or hurt or really punished (except the aforementioned, "No") in any way since he's been in our care.
We started out crating him anytime we weren't home, mainly as a precaution to protect our cats from his prey drive and inability to control his chasing impulses. Over time we started testing him by leaving him to have the run of the house for short periods, and eventually he got to the point where he had proven himself to be safe for our cats and our home, so he wasn't crated anymore, even if we were gone for extended periods (like an 8-hour workday). He never had any problems. He was never destructive, never chewed anything, never had potty accidents. He was the world's most perfect dog, frankly.
He is very attached to both my husband and me (not velcro or anxious, but likes to be near us all the time.) My husband often works from home and Hobbes is especially attached to him, since they spend so much time together. We have both always been very involved in his training and fun-time. He gets plenty of exercise and when he's home he's generally content to sleep or pad around the apartment contentedly.
Last month my husband was out of town for about 4-5 days. Everything else was business as usual. On the first day after he left, I took Hobbes for his morning walk and then left for work, leaving him uncrated as usual. When I came home at lunch to check on him, he had DESTROYED our apartment. He had chewed a pair of my boots to oblivion, had eaten a pair of bamboo knitting needles, and the top of a Nalgene water bottle (indestructible my *ss!), and had emptied the contents of the bathroom trash can all throughout the apartment. When I walked in the door I didn't notice the destruction right off. What I noticed immediately was that Hobbes didn't run to the door with his tail wagging in his usual affectionate doggy greeting. He was cowering in the living room, watching the door with his ears back and his tail tucked, looking for all the world like he was the most guilty dog in the universe. I didn't punish him or yell at him or even react, although by this point I did notice that he had torn up the place. I calmly put his leash on him and took him outside to pee. When we came back in I went about cleaning up the mess.
This happened again the next day when I left him. He was destructive and acted for all the world like he knew he had f*cked up even though he's never been punished for that, at least in the time we've had him.
We chalked it up to him being anxious because his daddy was gone, and moved on. For the rest of the time my husband was gone, I crated him for his safety. (Seriously, he ate my knitting needles and I found all kinds of crap in his poop later on - his safety was certainly at risk) When my husband came back from being out of town we tried leaving him uncrated again to see what would happen. That didn't go well, and he was destructive again. I am assuming that the destruction was reinforcing for him and he learned it was fun, so we went back to crating him whenever we're both gone.
Now, I have 2 questions. First, given that in all his time with us he has never been punished for destructive activity (in fact, he had never displayed destructive behavior until this time) how did he know something was wrong when I walked in the door? I mean, he had a classic "guilty" look and was clearly afraid to approach me. Is it possible that he remembers this sort of behavior from his home before he was in rescue and was punished for it then?
I don't know his history, except that he was in rescue for a few weeks before we adopted him, and before that he was in a shelter for a couple of months, where he was listed as an "owner surrender" with no reason given. It's possible that he was destructive in his old home, but I don't know.
My second question is this: how can we best experiment with leaving him uncrated again? Can we expect him to return to his normal docile self and not want to destroy things when we're gone, or are those halcyon days behind us now, since he found the destruction rewarding (apparently)? He doesn't seem to mind his crate - when we first got him we spent a lot of time crate-training him, so he's fine in there...but it seems nicer for him to be out if he can be trusted not to hurt himself or our things.
I'm really sorry about the novella I've posted; I know you're busy and don't have all day to read my story, but I do appreciate your time and any insight you can offer. Thanks!
Hobbes has been with us for a little over a year. We got him from a local rescue when he was around a year old. We had a lot of work to do on training him when we got him, and we have always used positive reinforcement methods (unless you consider the word "No" to be an aversive, in which case mild positive punishment has also been employed from time to time. We have never used any of the dominance theory methods and Hobbes has never been hit or hurt or really punished (except the aforementioned, "No") in any way since he's been in our care.
We started out crating him anytime we weren't home, mainly as a precaution to protect our cats from his prey drive and inability to control his chasing impulses. Over time we started testing him by leaving him to have the run of the house for short periods, and eventually he got to the point where he had proven himself to be safe for our cats and our home, so he wasn't crated anymore, even if we were gone for extended periods (like an 8-hour workday). He never had any problems. He was never destructive, never chewed anything, never had potty accidents. He was the world's most perfect dog, frankly.
He is very attached to both my husband and me (not velcro or anxious, but likes to be near us all the time.) My husband often works from home and Hobbes is especially attached to him, since they spend so much time together. We have both always been very involved in his training and fun-time. He gets plenty of exercise and when he's home he's generally content to sleep or pad around the apartment contentedly.
Last month my husband was out of town for about 4-5 days. Everything else was business as usual. On the first day after he left, I took Hobbes for his morning walk and then left for work, leaving him uncrated as usual. When I came home at lunch to check on him, he had DESTROYED our apartment. He had chewed a pair of my boots to oblivion, had eaten a pair of bamboo knitting needles, and the top of a Nalgene water bottle (indestructible my *ss!), and had emptied the contents of the bathroom trash can all throughout the apartment. When I walked in the door I didn't notice the destruction right off. What I noticed immediately was that Hobbes didn't run to the door with his tail wagging in his usual affectionate doggy greeting. He was cowering in the living room, watching the door with his ears back and his tail tucked, looking for all the world like he was the most guilty dog in the universe. I didn't punish him or yell at him or even react, although by this point I did notice that he had torn up the place. I calmly put his leash on him and took him outside to pee. When we came back in I went about cleaning up the mess.
This happened again the next day when I left him. He was destructive and acted for all the world like he knew he had f*cked up even though he's never been punished for that, at least in the time we've had him.
We chalked it up to him being anxious because his daddy was gone, and moved on. For the rest of the time my husband was gone, I crated him for his safety. (Seriously, he ate my knitting needles and I found all kinds of crap in his poop later on - his safety was certainly at risk) When my husband came back from being out of town we tried leaving him uncrated again to see what would happen. That didn't go well, and he was destructive again. I am assuming that the destruction was reinforcing for him and he learned it was fun, so we went back to crating him whenever we're both gone.
Now, I have 2 questions. First, given that in all his time with us he has never been punished for destructive activity (in fact, he had never displayed destructive behavior until this time) how did he know something was wrong when I walked in the door? I mean, he had a classic "guilty" look and was clearly afraid to approach me. Is it possible that he remembers this sort of behavior from his home before he was in rescue and was punished for it then?
I don't know his history, except that he was in rescue for a few weeks before we adopted him, and before that he was in a shelter for a couple of months, where he was listed as an "owner surrender" with no reason given. It's possible that he was destructive in his old home, but I don't know.
My second question is this: how can we best experiment with leaving him uncrated again? Can we expect him to return to his normal docile self and not want to destroy things when we're gone, or are those halcyon days behind us now, since he found the destruction rewarding (apparently)? He doesn't seem to mind his crate - when we first got him we spent a lot of time crate-training him, so he's fine in there...but it seems nicer for him to be out if he can be trusted not to hurt himself or our things.
I'm really sorry about the novella I've posted; I know you're busy and don't have all day to read my story, but I do appreciate your time and any insight you can offer. Thanks!