The next time you start shaking your finger and shouting, "Shame on you!" because your dog chewed up your favorite fuzzy slippers, just remember that no matter how guilty your dog looks, it doesn't know what your rant is about.
Behaviorists insist dogs lack shame. The guilty look — head cowered, ears back — is a reaction to the tantrum you are throwing now over the damage they did hours earlier.
"Just get over it and remind yourself not to put temptation in the way next time," said Dr. Bonnie Beaver, a professor at Texas A&M University's College of Veterinary Medicine and executive director of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists.