The dogs guilty look is not what we all have been taught.
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Love this…I’ve never seen “the guilty look” in mine harry…have you…??? if ever they chewed something as puppies…(I remember losing half a door frame once…!) then I saw it as my failing and not theirs…they’ve never been told off for anything…even so any raised voices or animated discussion in the house…even over the phone…has them coming over to sit on my feet…x 
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Helen… I am a little confused… your dog chewed the door frame and you saw it as your failing… …
I’m intrigued… how did you train your dogs NOT to do something ??
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No I do not scold my dogs like that. If a dog has an accident in the house its dealt with quietly.
My Newfoundland labrador ate an antique chair once while too k kids to the bus stop and she damaged several chairs in the dining room. (luckily something she has stopped doing)
doing the who did this routine (I just tried it) i now had 9 dogs all looking like they did something wrong… Ive just given them all a treat. (i asked “who ate my sausage”
I hate when i see people doing it its just not the way to do it.
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It was my own failing as I had left a teething Border Collie puppy on his own in the kitchen…(albeit with 3 other adult Border Collies who were well past the chewing and gnawing phase)…it was a momentary lapse of supervision…my own fault…During puppyhood I use distraction…”hey stop gnawing the doorframe and lets do something much more exciting…hey stop mithering the cats and biting the heels of everyone and everything that’s moving and let’s go do something much more exciting…hey stop trying to nip my heels and let’s turn this into a “go under” and use your “talents” to learn to dance…!” I just never had the heart to tell them off…like Harry also says…deal with accidents quietly…no fuss…an accident in the house is Cos you didn’t see the warning signals…dogs don’t do gulilty…they are responding at every given moment to body language…eventually you end up with a lifelong companion who knows what you’re thinking before you’ve even thought it…despite the language barrier…x
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Do you ever use words like “no” or “stop” or “down” … I only ask, as those words come swiftly to my lips when a dog does something I do not like…
I do speak to them in both French and English… as it is not always clear which language they understand… 
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yup when ever i feel my self feeling a bit cross my lab comes and puts her head in my lap. its as ure sign i need to take a breath. (actually happened earlier tonight.)
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They don’t know the meaning of the word “no”…or “non”…they did know “down”…but it’s so long since I’ve had to use it that “lets go this way” works better…and “lets go get a treat” works equally well…x
i use no or stop, but down we dont do as here dogs are here for fun and i love cuddles.
stop when it get s bit rough but i dont have to raise my voice they all know my tone means stop.
also use shush when they are all barking hello when guests arrive but i also sy good girl or boy for letting me know.
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i just say “Food”
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Seems to me that there should be a general doggie lingo…
Many folk let their dogs roam freely… and those of us who find them in our garden or wherever… jumping up at us or whatever… well, it would be useful if the dog knew what “stop/down” that sort of thing… actually meant.
It can be quite alarming when a strange dog does not appear to understand any simple commands… 
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It is alarming…I’ve been out with one of my girls (not here but in uk) and approached by a massive dog on a long line leash…we got totally entangled and it was only staying calm and waiting for his owner to catch up that stopped what could have been major bloodshed as my girl was not at all happy…alarming also when you’re out with your on leash dogs to have off leash dogs coming up to yours with no manners…Mine don’t jump up…they learned it very early on by being around toddlers…
I really don’t think that dogs should be roaming freely…my very first years ago Collie did roam…not very far and he was well known in the village…times were different…
Visitors to the village, open the car door and out hops… and runs away… whatever…
Holiday makers arrive with dogs, which then escape from the gites …
and then there are just folk who let their dogs roam…
A dog that reacts favourably to a word of command is never a problem.
It was one of my major worries when I moved here…the possibility that they might get lost…they are microchipped but I found it impossible to update their chips to my new address although they can be traced back to their uk vets via the chip and the vets know we are now in France …They have collars and tags with our French address in the unlikely event they slipped their harness when out walking…I have galvanised steel dog panels both at the front and back of my house…I’ll never understand anyone who could come on holiday…let their dogs out of the car and not worry about where they are…???
Not regularly… but often enough… we have dogs roaming here, which are obviously lost. Thankfully there is a network of Brits who can be called upon to take care (short-term)… (no, they can’t stay here, I move them on…). I always notify the Mairie.
Only the other day… another forlorn animal “befriended” us. That one stayed with a Brit overnight and then got taken to the Vet. Turns out the Vet will keep a dog which is micro-chipped (presumably bill the owner). No idea if the vet will keep an animal with a foreign microchip… That particular dog was on holiday here and was presumably trying to find its way home… 
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Lol…Barbara woodhouse…! Just as long as it’s not the unmentionable cesar Milan…! Yep mine all know “sit” and my non verbal sign language for “sit”…they still don’t know the French for “sit”…come to think of it neither do I…x
Assis sit
Couché lie down
Panier basket
Reste stay
Ici come here
Non no
All fairly useful (for dogs, children, adults…)
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couche is normally used for bed, never heard anyone sat basket or panier, rest pretty spot on though and a common on the french use as well is stop