Studies Show Humans Struggle to Read Dog Emotions
We adore our dogs. They are our best friends, confidantes, and full-fledged members of the family. We’d like to think we know when they’re happy, sad, excited, or scared, reading their every tail wag and ear twitch. But what if our understanding of their emotional state isn’t as accurate as we think?
New research from Arizona State University suggests that we aren’t all that accurate at reading our dogs’ body language cues, frequently misinterpreting their emotions.
According to a study published in Anthrozoös by researchers Holly Molinaro and Clive Wynne, we tend to decipher our dogs’ emotions through a lens of the situation at hand rather than focusing on the dog’s actual behavior.
Think about it: you offer your dog a treat, and they eagerly take it. You naturally assume they’re happy. Or perhaps you scold them for chewing on your new shoes, and they instantly tuck their tail between their legs, looking away. It’s easy to conclude they are feeling guilt or shame. However, Molinaro explains, “People do not look at what the dog is doing, instead they look at the situation surrounding the dog and base their emotional perception off of that.”
To test this theory, researchers showed people videos of dogs in different scenarios, both with and without the surrounding context. They even manipulated the videos to make a dog reacting to something positive appear to be responding to something negative, and vice versa. The results were very interesting! People consistently judged the dog’s emotions based on what appeared to be happening, regardless of the dog’s actual behavioral and body language cues.
“You see a dog getting a treat, you assume he must be feeling good,” Molinaro said. “You see a dog getting yelled at, you assume he’s feeling bad. These assumptions of how you think the dog is feeling have nothing to do with the dog’s behavior or emotional cues, which is very striking.”
This is further complicated by anthropomorphism, the habit of reflecting human feelings and interpretations onto our pets. We assume they process emotions in the same way we do, leading to significant misunderstandings.
So, what does this mean for us as loving dog parents? The first and most crucial takeaway is the awareness that we might not be the expert dog emotion readers we think we are. Instead of automatically interpreting each situation based on our human perspective, we should take a moment to focus on the unique behaviors and cues of the dog in front of us. What does their body language tell us? Is that “guilty” look after breaking the rules actually guilt, or is it fear of our reaction to what they have done?
Our bond with our dogs is a deep and meaningful one. While studies have shown that our dogs are excellent at understanding our emotions, the reverse is not always true. By learning from these findings and playing closer attention to what our pups are trying to communicate, we can improve our ability to understand their emotional world and give them an even more meaningful and fulfilling life.
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Britt Kascjak is a proud pet mom, sharing her heart (and her home) with her “pack” which includes her husband John, their 2 dogs – Lucifer and Willow – and their 3 cats – Pippen, Jinx, and Theia. She has been active in the animal rescue community for over 15 years, volunteering, fostering and advocating for organizations across Canada and the US. In her free time, she enjoys traveling around the country camping, hiking, and canoeing with her pets.
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