My dog looks guilty when he has done something wrong
Your dog is responding to signals given by you (anger, increased heart rate, perspiration) and his slinking towards you is dog language for "I don't want conflict!" He is not capable of the complicated thought process needed to form guilt. In other words, he is reacting, not acting. "But Chris, he only looks guilty after he has done something bad!" It does look that way, I agree. This one took me forever to understand because dogs so often display facial expressions and body language that look very much like ours. Your dog may associate that whenever (shoes, piddle accidents, shredded newspapers, insert examples of bad behavior here) are present his humans are angry. However (and this is huge so stay with me)...your dog does not get the connection between his previous actions and your anger.
My dog should do what I tell him to do out of loyalty
You can thank Hollywood and Disney for this one. Dogs (like all thinking organisms) do what works for them. But it does make a good story :)
Praise alone should be rewarding enough
If your dog is willing to work for praise alone, fine. For most dogs (and humans!) this is not enough. Would you still show up at the office if your boss implemented a "praise, not pay" policy?
Dogs are pack animals just like wolves
Free ranging domestic dogs live in open, flexible groups, kind of like ours consisting of parents, siblings, aunts and uncles. That dog parks exist is a testament to their ability to adapt and form relationships with other dogs
You must be the boss or your dog will walk all over you
A dog who snaps at you when asked to vacate the sofa has learned that if he growls, he stays on the sofa. It is as simple as that. Just a case of semantics? Not really. Viewing bad manners as a "dominance challenge" sets the stage for conflict. Each incident is viewed as a potential bid for a hostile take-over by the dog, instead of being viewed as, and treated as, a simple behavior issue which can be solved by proper training and communication.
My dog knows what I want him to do-he just chooses not to because he is stubborn (or because he is a "insert your breed type here")
We ask our dogs to do things that are completely foreign to their nature every single day! If your dog does not do what you ask (assuming he is physically capable of what it is you are asking), it is either because he does not understand what you are asking of him or that behavior has not been reinforced strongly enough. We tend to think something has been learned long before it actually has.
