Dogs are unable to verbally communicate, but their body language can convey a wealth of information. Some dogs, for example, will bow when they want to play or lick their lips and avoid eye contact when they are nervous or scared. However, a recent study suggests that people are not always adept at interpreting these cues, or even noticing them.
In the study, researchers presented participants with videos of a dog’s reaction to positive and negative stimuli, including a leash, a treat, a vacuum cleaner, and a scolding. When asked to assess the dog’s emotions, people seemed to focus more on the environmental context rather than the dog’s actual behavior, even when the videos had been manipulated to be intentionally misleading. For instance, one video showed a dog reacting to his leash, but the dog had actually been shown a vacuum cleaner by his owner.
The study’s lead author, Holly Molinaro, a doctoral student at Arizona State University, stated that people often unconsciously rely on a variety of factors when interpreting a dog’s emotions. This could lead to misconceptions about a dog’s well-being, as owners may pay more attention to surroundings rather than their dog’s behavior.
The idea for the study came in 2021 when Ms. Molinaro was starting her doctoral program but the Covid-19 pandemic limited her ability to do in-person research. Inspired by studies on how context influences people’s perceptions of others’ emotions, she and her adviser, Clive Wynne, a canine behavior expert, wanted to create videos that showed a dog’s behavior without its surroundings.
During a visit to her parents in Connecticut, Ms. Molinaro filmed her family dog, Oliver, a 14-year-old pointer-beagle mix, interacting with her father. Some videos showed her father doing things that Oliver was likely to respond positively to, such as showing him his leash or a toy, while others showed him doing things that would elicit more negative reactions, such as scolding Oliver or introducing him to a cat (who was not a fan of Oliver).
Ms. Molinaro then edited the videos to remove the situational context, leaving footage of Oliver on a black background. She asked hundreds of undergraduates to watch both sets of videos and assess Oliver’s emotional state in each clip. When the participants evaluated the original videos, they rated Oliver’s emotions as more positive in the positive situations and less positive in the negative situations. However, when the context was removed, they rated Oliver’s emotions as equally positive in both types of situations.
The scientists further manipulated the footage by combining it from different situations, showing, for example, her father presenting a vacuum cleaner while footage of Oliver’s reaction to his leash played. Participants appeared more influenced by the context than by Oliver’s behavior, judging his emotions as positive when her father was depicted doing something positive, regardless of Oliver’s behavior.
Dr. Wynne stated that there was no evidence that people actually paid attention to the dog. He added that there might also be a difference in how people perceive their own dogs’ emotions and that their ability to recognize signs of intense fear or trauma is likely better. The study only focused on one dog, and therefore its application might have limitations.
Nonetheless, Dr. Wynne hopes that the research serves as a wake-up call for pet owners to spend more attention on their pets’ behavior, and to learn how to better understand their emotions. For example, he has recently adopted a retired racing greyhound, and he has taken it upon himself to study her behavior to make her life more joyful.
Unfortunately, Oliver did not live long enough to see the study published, but Ms. Molinaro said it was sweet that he is now remembered through this research.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/science/dogs-pets-emotions.html
