A Simple Way to Identify Your Dog's Emotions

An interesting study published in the journal Behavioral Processes 1 in June suggests that people can accurately distinguish a wide range of emotions in dogs just by studying their facial expressions.

Teams from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections' psychology department and Walden University in Minneapolis, with help from the University of Florida, focused on finding out if humans could accurately read a dog's facial expressions.

Study volunteers were able to determine when the dog was happy, sad, angry, surprised, or scared by looking at the photo of the animal's face. These results suggest that humans possess a natural ability to understand what animals are feeling.

A psychologist at the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and principal investigator:
"There is no doubt that humans have the ability to recognize the emotional states of other human beings and accurately read the facial expressions of other humans. We have shown that humans are also capable of accurately - if not perfectly - identifying facial expressions. of at least one dog.

"Although humans often believe that they are disconnected and even isolated from nature, our study suggests that there are patterns that connect, and one of them is emotional communication."


How Facial Expressions Caused in the Dog
The study used photographs of a five-year-old Belgian Shepherd named Mal. The photos showed Mal when experiencing various emotions. When he was praised, he would show a happy expression with his ears stopped, his tongue sticking out and looking directly at the camera.

When the investigators scolded him, Mal's expression turned sad, looking down.
To capture a surprised expression, the researchers used a surprise box (jack-in-the-box), and Mal wrinkled the top of his head.

Medicine with a bad taste revealed the dog's expression of disgust with flattened ears. Then they showed him the dreaded nail clipper, causing Mal to stop his ears and show the whites of his eyes.
To produce an expression of anger, one of the investigators played the role of a criminal. Mal, a real life police dog, bared his teeth at the start of a grunt.


Volunteers Correctly Identify Evil Happiness More Frequently
Images of Mal's expressions were shown to a group of 50 study participants who were separated into two groups based on their experience with the dogs.
The results:


•   Happiness was correctly identified by 88% of the participants.

•   Anger was recognized by 70%.

•   Fear was identified in approximately 45% of the participants.

•   Sadness - a relatively subtle emotion - was recognized by 37% of the group.

•   Surprise was identified by only 20% of the participants; disgust by only 13%.


Interestingly, the researchers found that the group with the lowest relationship to dogs was better at recognizing disgust and anger. Dr. Bloom and her colleague Professor Harris Friedman theorize that dog owners can convince themselves that their pet is not aggressive, and rationalize negative expressions such as "just play."

Bloom and Friedman also believe that the ability of people with little or no experience with dogs to identify facial expressions - sometimes more accurately than dog owners - perhaps is because it is an innate skill rather than a skill. acquired.


Dr. Bloom, when speaking to The Telegraph, expressed her hope that future research will investigate whether the natural empathy that humans have for canines also extends to all mammals, or whether it is the result of the unique bond we have shared with dogs throughout history.

Bloom admits that she finds these unproven theories emotionally appealing. "If I adopt a cat, a snake, or a turtle, I don't think he can connect emotionally to me and watch my face as much as a dog," she said. "There is something different and special about a dog - I don't know what it is, but it's there."