{"id":5443,"date":"2022-12-03T19:42:02","date_gmt":"2022-12-03T19:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/notabully.org\/?p=5443"},"modified":"2023-11-11T20:49:49","modified_gmt":"2023-11-11T20:49:49","slug":"do-dogs-know-when-they-hurt-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/notabully.org\/do-dogs-know-when-they-hurt-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Dogs Know When They Hurt You? (Answered By Trainer)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Owning a dog can be a rewarding experience for both humans and dogs, though it does sometimes come with pain; in this case, physical pain. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whether it is your puppy chewing on you during teething, or your big dog excitedly jumping and scratching you, dogs do hurt us sometimes, usually by accident. Dogs often offer behavior that looks like they are expressing guilt after hurting you, so it might be easy to assume your dog knows they have hurt you.<\/span><\/p>\n

But do dogs know they have hurt you?<\/span><\/p>\n

If a dog accidentally bites or scratches you, they do not know they have hurt you. If they show remorse or shame, they are only reacting to your angry reaction and emotions. By seeing your body language reacting in pain, they are aware they have done something to upset you.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Most people’s natural reaction to a dog hurting them is to yell, yelp, or become upset. Dogs might react differently to your body cues depending on their personality. Some will lovingly cozy up to you, while others might become scared and hide. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, their appeasement behavior is because of your scary reaction, not because they know they have hurt you. If your dog is accidentally hurting you, you can use your body cues to change their behavior and teach them to avoid the behavior that causes them to hurt you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Your Body Language When Your Dog Hurts You<\/span><\/h2>\n

So dogs are not necessarily acting remorseful or scared because they hurt you, but rather are only reacting to you showing signs of physical pain or discomfort. <\/span>Dogs are excellent at reading our body cues to pick up on emotions.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Think about your dog’s reaction to different scenarios. When you are calm they are likely to pick up on that and copy your cues and relax, they are easy to rev up for fun walks, and if you feel threatened they immediately go on alert.<\/span><\/p>\n

So if your dog hurts you, how do you react? Do you instinctively shove your dog, cry or yell? Dogs interpret our reactions and most will act lovingly and remorseful because of your body language, facial expressions, and exclamation of pain if they have hurt you. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is evidence that\u00a0<\/span>dogs can even smell your emotions<\/span><\/a>, so a dog might not only react to your physical reaction but also smell it!<\/span><\/p>\n

Dogs are masters at picking up on body language and reading the room. This is why if you show no reaction to your dog hurting you, they will have no idea they hurt you, but when they accidentally bite you and you have a negative reaction, they know that they were not a good dog. It is likely that in the future they will try to avoid that behavior.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do Dogs Feel Bad When They Hurt You?<\/span><\/h2>\n

It is easy to anthropomorphize our dogs and think they show remorse or guilt after hurting us, but they are just reacting to our emotions. The same is true for many other complex emotions that we attribute to our dogs like spite<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When they accidentally hurt you and you get angry or frustrated, they are acting fearful of your reaction. <\/span><\/p>\n

This doggy reaction could be interpreted as feeling bad, but not because they hurt you; they are only responding to your body language. And most dogs will want to learn how to avoid that reaction from you in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

Think about when\u00a0<\/span>your dog gets into the trash<\/span><\/a>\u00a0when you are gone. They do not know you are mad about the trash, but they look guilty because they understand they have upset you. It is a similar concept when a dog looks guilty after they have hurt you.<\/span><\/p>\n

How do you know your dog is reading your emotional cues after hurting you? Check their body language; a dog who is showing signs of\u00a0<\/span>submissive or appeasement behavior is trying to make themselves appear small and non-threatening<\/span><\/a>. If you react angrily or yell in pain, a dog who can read that reaction well will offer submissive body language like:<\/span><\/p>\n