Do dogs feel guilt? Scientists exchange discoveries about animal cognition

*Originally published on November 5, 2021.

Have you ever looked down at your beloved family dog and thought: what on earth are you thinking?

Alexandra Horowitz certainly has. She's a dog cognition scientist and the author of Inside of a Dog.

At the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado,Horowitz joined other scientists and authors to discuss the most extraordinary recent findings related to the minds of dogs and birds.

Watch Horowitz explain how she tested if dogs that give owners a 'guilty look' actually feel guilty:

For more information about the events at the Aspen Ideas Festival:

• The Mysterious Mind of the Dog
• The Genius of Birds

Guests in this episode:

Alexandra Horowitz is a dog cognition scientist and professor atBarnard College of Columbia University. She's also the author ofInside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know.

Brian Hare is thefounder of the Dognition Lab and professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University.

Jennifer Ackermanis the author of The Genius of Birds and The Bird Way.

Alex Taylor directsthe New Caledonian Crow Lab at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

*This episode was produced by Melissa Gismondi, with help from Chris Wodskou and Tom Howell.