Guilt ... a misinterpretation?

Anthropomorphism is the phenomenon of interpreting animal behavior as "looking" like human behavior, thereby attributing human emotions to, in this case, our dogs. How many times have you heard someone say something like "He got in the trash again. When I walked in the door he looked guilty, turned around and ran the other way." Guilt? Perhaps not. Here the dog's perspective.

• 7:03 a.m. Bubba had breakfast, water, a poo and a pee. The last person leaves the house bidding Bubba, the family dog, a fond farewell. Now he settles in for his morning nap.
• 8:45 a.m. Trash trucks coming. Bubba wakes up, checks out the noise, woofs, gets a sip of water, goes back to sleep.
• 9:17 a.m. Bubba wakes up, stretches, cruises the house. Finds his tennis ball. What good is that without someone to throw it? Something moved in the corner of the bedroom. Spider. Check it out. Went behind the bed. Oh well. Moves on to the kitchen. The squirrels are in the backyard. Can't get to them. Woof. Back and forth in front of the window. SQUIRRELS! Woof woof woof. Ugh and oh well. Bubba lays down, watching the backyard, falls asleep.
• 10:12 a.m. Phone rings. Bubba wakes up, stretches, gets a drink of water. What is that tantalizing smell? The people sometimes put yummy treats in the container in the kitchen. Fish from last night? Did they leave some in there for the dog? They are SO good to Bubba. Bubba knocks the trash can over and starts the most fun game of the day: a treasure hunt. Finds the fishy smelling paper towel, eats it; finds the potato peelings, eats them; finds the mostly empty chocolate pudding container, licks it clean. Not much else of interest. Another sip of water and a nap on the couch.
• Fast forward to 5:48 p.m. Mom gets home from work to find the contents of the kitchen trash all over the kitchen floor. Bubba takes one look at her body language and knows he's in trouble. Why? Did she have a bad day? She's yelling at him. Why? Her hands are all fisted and she's wearing her mad face. Bubba sits and looks at her trying to figure out what's going on. Mom thinks he looks guilty. "Bad dog" she says in her mean voice. Bubba rises and gets the heck out of the kitchen since Mom is obviously in a really bad mood.

Bubba lives in the now. He got into the trash hours ago. It was self-rewarding. He connects his owner's anger with her homecoming not with the scattered trash. Do you really want to teach your dog to be afraid of you? Of course not. There are lots of training solutions for trash-eating dogs. But let's keep it simple. Remove the source of the problem. And the problem is not the dog. Put the trashcan somewhere Bubba can't get to it. AND provide Bubba with a richer daily life so he doesn't go looking for something to do. Consider a dog walker, doggy day care, interactive toys, and perhaps even another dog to keep Bubba company. Dogs are pack animals. They thrive when surrounded by their pack 24/7.