Apologizing is one of the things some of us humans have a hard time doing, especially if you’ve got a lot of pride. Others find it very difficult to acknowledge their mistakes, but some also find it easy to say “I’m sorry” even if they don’t really mean it. Before the dogs in our pack increased to 10, I’ve wondered if dogs are like us when it comes to apologizing.
You know what? I think they do and can apologize.
That’s Harry in the picture, by the way. I caught him in that position after I expressed disappointment when he stole my sandwich. He took my chicken sandwich from the table when I was busy taking pictures of his fellow pooches. I wasn’t mad when I saw him eating my sandwich, but I did make him feel “guilty” by showing my disappointment at what he did. I turned away from him after telling him what he did was very bad, and he kept on trying to make me look at him. When I asked Harry, “what do you want?” he gave me that “I’m sorry” pose. I just couldn’t resist taking the photo 
And of course, I couldn’t resist forgiving him. Who can say no to such a cute apology? I bet even you can’t 
Harry wasn’t the only one who ever expressed saying sorry to me. Sheero always apologized when she did something wrong, ie. peeing or pooping in places where she shouldn’t have. She always knew it when she did something wrong. And when she did, she would approach us with her tail between her legs and her ears pulled backward while giving us the most adorable “please forgive me” look ever possible in a dog.
Choknat expressed his apology to me already. It was funny when it happened, actually. I put on a shower cap, and sat on my computer desk to do some work while I waited for the hair treatment to take effect before washing it off. Choknat didn’t recognize me and started barking as he sat on my bed. Of course I was hurt, told him, then started to ignore him while I worked. A few seconds later, he realized that it was me under the shower cap, and immediately jumped onto my lap and “kissed” my face in apology.
Shantee is still young (she’s only five months at the moment), so she still got a lot to learn when it comes to apologizing—she doesn’t seem to feel guilty when she did something wrong. Maybe she still doesn’t know if she did something wrong, but she’s slowly learning! Shantee is beginning to realize that when Marc and I ignore her, she did something wrong—she’s now starting to associate the lack of attention to doing something that we didn’t like.
Funny how a dog’s mind works, doesn’t it? They love us humans so much that “pride” doesn’t seem to be in their vocabulary anymore—they’d do anything to please us, get our attention, and make us happy
3 Responses to “Does your dog say “sorry?””
Hi Gail. Im thinking how our pet animals, unlike most humans, can be totally shameless about their feelings. They have no pretenses ( even my princess Deedee can slobber on a slice of steak and only then I’m reminded of the fact that she’s a dog), no pride ( like how your dogs say sorry), no inhibitions in letting you know just how important you are…Thats why we love them and we never stop loving them even after they die.
Relationships fall apart, people part ways, feelings die– all because of a bunch of words we couldnt or choose not to say.
We could really learn a thing or two from our pets.
@The Secretary: That’s very true. If we follow their example, we’ll probably be living in a better world than it is now
hahah..yeah..dogs do know how to apologize. when i get mad at my babies for something they did wrong, they would just sit in one corner and look like they really feel bad.. of course i cant resist seeing them like that, so when i call on them to give them a big hug, they would run up to me and kiss my face endlessly!!!:)
i can never imagine living without dogs in my life..they really are a man’s bestfriend!:)
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