There is little doubt online dog shaming is a popular phenomenon, but a veterinary scientist says that while some dogs may cast an apologetic look to their owners, they do not actually feel guilt.

The craze of dog shaming started taking off online after a dedicated Tumblr site went live on August 2012 with a photo of a Dachshund that loved chewing its human's undies.

Since then, owners have posted all sorts of pictures of their criminally-inclined canines across multiple social media platforms.

This has included dogs that have chewed shoes and sofas, dogs that have chewed toilet rolls, dogs that have helped themselves to food, or even the cat litter tray.

But while the photos are evidence of how humans feel about their furry companions, experts say the so-called guilty look on the faces of dogs is not evidence of feelings of guilt or contrition.

"There's been a number of studies done and it's pretty clear that dogs don't feel or display guilt," veterinary scientist Doctor Susan Hazel said.

"It's not the way their brains work."

Doctor Susan Hazel, with four-year-old Labrador, Fergus, says dogs do not feel or display guilt. ( ABC News: Simon Royal )

A recent study involved putting food and dogs in a room and then, when owners returned, testing whether perceptions of the animal's guilty look matched the facts.

"Owners are no better than just a chance guess at telling if the dog has eaten or not," Dr Hazel said.

But what of the big brown sorrowful eyes and the downcast look that just shouts, or barks, "I'm guilty, I'm so sorry?"

Dr Hazel said it was evidence of how superbly dogs have adapted to living with humans over thousands of years.

In other words, dogs know to keep their meal ticket happy.

"Dogs will show appeasement-like behaviour that some owners interpret as guilt," Dr Hazel said.

"They will also react to the person's body language, so dogs are absolute geniuses at picking up what we think before even we know it.

"You could look at it as a form of higher parasitism, but it's mutual because we get just as much out of the relationship as they do."

Most of the time Dr Hazel thinks dog-shaming photos are just good fun, but she is concerned that unlike dogs, people are not as good as their pets at picking up signs.

"About 20 per cent of dogs suffer from separation anxiety and that often leads to all sorts of behaviour, like chewing up the sofa, which ends up as dog shaming," she said.

"Other people see it as something a bit funny but I see a dog that's in a fair bit of distress and actually needs some help.

"If they don't get it, then that's a problem."

Dogs 'do not learn' from shaming

After 17 years of training guide dogs, Tracey Jones has learnt that pooches live and learn in the present.

She said the thing they chewed up earlier in the day is long forgotten.

"It's more about your reaction right then and there than what happened four hours ago," Ms Jones said.

"Is [dog shaming] cruel? Probably the dog's a bit confused more than anything, because it knows that you are upset but it doesn't know why."

Ms Jones said the best way to teach a dog is to find out what motivates them and keep the messages simple and consistent.

"Food is always good with Labradors," she said.

Women more likely to dog shame

Flinders University social work lecturer Heather Fraser argued dog shaming was useful for teaching other creatures - her students.

Guide dog trainer Tracey Jones, pictured with Milo, says dogs live and learn in the present. ( ABC News: Simon Royal )

"I ask them to think about what it means, what's going on here and to think about it critically," she said.

"Is this being done respectfully?"

Ms Fraser, who has three dogs, said it was important that students appreciated dogs because of their relevance to social work.

"Dogs in particular are making their way into lots of interventions that we use, whether it's therapy dogs, service dogs, or dogs for returned soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder."

Ms Fraser's interest in the subject has led to some interesting sociological observations about the nature of dog shaming.

She said women were much more likely than men to post cute dog pictures online.

"I think for lot of women it can be a way of trying to vent some of their frustration, express their own authority in families where they may feel not listened to by partners or children, and now the dog or the cat," Ms Fraser said.

One thing the experts do agree on is cat shaming.

While dogs may be interested in appeasing their owners, cats could not care less.

"Cats are not as attuned to people as dogs are," Dr Hazel said.

"So no, I don't think cat shaming would work. Don't bother."