Recently I got one of those e-mails entitled “Aren’t you glad to have someone to come home to?” and featured pictures of dogs who have torn up things.

Which made me wonder: Do dogs experience guilt when they do “bad’’ things?

Um, no.

Canine expert Alexandra Horowitz recently did a study in Behavioral Processes on the topic. She asked dog owners to leave the room after ordering their dogs not to eat a treat. While the owners were out, she gave certain dogs treats. Then, she told all the owners that the dogs had eaten the treats and the owners, said why, yes, their dogs looked guilty and scolded them for their misbehavior.

The dogs’ strange facial expressions were from being scolded – not because they had a case of the guilts, Horowitz concluded.

You could try this at home:  The next time Lil’ Angel does something really bad, keep your game face on and don’t scold him for it. Now, does he still look guilty or does he head for the sofa for a snooze?