Do animals feel guilt and remorse?
by 
keithold thanks all baggers
ANSWERS: 20
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I know my dog does. When she has done something she knows is wrong she acts all guilty.
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I think to a small degree they do and then it's quickly gone...
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I believe that they do .... If I scold my dog ; he puts his tail down between his legs like he is GUILTY and very slowly walks up to me and wants to lick my hand .... like he is saying he is sorry ... and remorseful . Note; That I very SELDOM have to scold him as he is very well behaved ....
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Yes, dogs put their tail between their legs. My cat hangs her head and lays under the table.
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We can only assign our own interpretation to their actions. When I come in after shopping, I can always tell if my dog has been knocking over the trash cans in the bedrooms. He "acts" guilty.
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Bees and wasps and spiders don't seem to feel to bad about stinging/biting people...
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Yup they do....when I ask my 2 boxers, "Who did it"....the guilty one can't look me in the eye while the innocent one wiggles it's tail and wants attention. It is so funny to watch the way they behave when they have done something wrong.
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Animals have similar emotions to humans ... perhaps not so extreme ... but they do feel. Thanks
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I do not think so, even though animals have base emotions, they feel pain, etc..most everything they do is a learned response. Though we silly humans might like to think animals have human like emotions, a dog does what it does either to get comfort, food or as a learned response it knows if it does something it will result in a reward or pain depending on what it does. Animals have no concept of self or time and so how could an animal regret what it has done or feel guilty for it when it has no concept that different actions may have had different results and that the outcome of their actions is the result of what they do or do not do. Animals live in the moment, they cannto dwell on the past, nor feel remorse or guilt, because only sentient beings aware of their own mortality, actions and the outcomes of their actions can understand concepts of good or bad and if animals did have a concept of good or bad, who's to say their morality would be anything like our own?
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I believe so. When my dog was initially an untrained pup he'd pee on the rug and he'd hide underneath the dining room table.
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I don't think most wild animals do, but they have the potential to...that is, I mean if we condition them to recognize certain things, like we do with cats and dogs. A compromising scheme, rather than naturally feeling bad, like we apparently do. But it wouldn't be the same as us, obviously. Or is it? Maybe we're not all that different, in the end. I think that emotions only exist in relation to the survival instinct and that we only feel things for our own good, rather than all the issues of morality, principle and whatnot that we use to define it. Maybe it's the same with animals...
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Probably not in the way that humans do.
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My dog chewed up my ipod once. He hid while I yelled at him but after I sat and calmed down, I realized it was my fault for leaving it out with a puppy alone in the house. A few minutes later the dog came out and laid his head in my lap like he was trying to apologize.
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I think that animals are just like people in that regard.Some,do,some don't.Especially domestic pets,like cats,dogs,and even birds,can exibit signs or remorse.I've seen this myself,so I know.I love animals.Hold them close to my heart.When my cat does something bad,like fight with other pets sometimes,I will scold her,and she does appear to be faking remorse,so if people and pets can both fake a concience,then I guess we are more alike then most probably like to think.*
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I'm not sure... but if they don't, they sure do a good job of pretending. My dog knocked me over, so I stayed on the ground and pretended to be upset. He walked back to me and gave me his "sorry..." face.
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Animals like monkeys do feel but animals like lion don't!
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No. Some domestic animals, dogs, and maybe some cats, know when they have "broken the house rules" and do fear consequenses if caught. But, that is all.
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Of course they do. They just don't feel them for very long lol.
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Without question. If not my dog would not lower head and look up at me with doleful eyes when she has done something wrong, like raiding the biscuit cupboard.:)
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There's a hugh difference between house pets and animals in the wild. Yet there are some breeds that kill and why people take that chance is hard to say but many have and many have killed their children. Animals in the wild it's a survival thing. No guilt no remorse.
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