Many dog owners believe they can easily understand their pets’ emotions.
A wagging tail means happiness, a guilty look means regret, and a lowered head means sadness.
But new research from Arizona State University suggests that humans often misread their dogs’ emotions.
The study, published in Anthrozoös, found that people judge their dog’s emotions based on the situation rather than the dog’s actual behavior.
Lead researchers Holly Molinaro and Clive Wynne ran experiments to see how well people could interpret dogs’ emotions—and the results were surprising.
“People don’t look at what the dog is actually doing,” said Molinaro, a Ph.D. student in psychology and animal welfare. “Instead, they look at the situation around the dog and assume how the dog must be feeling.”
For example, if a dog is given a treat, people assume the dog is happy. If a dog is near a vacuum cleaner, people assume the dog is scared. But the study found that these assumptions often don’t match the dog’s actual emotional state.
Researchers recorded dogs in both “happy” and “unhappy” situations. Happy situations included receiving a treat or seeing a leash, while unhappy situations included being gently scolded or being near a vacuum cleaner.
In the first experiment, 383 people watched the videos and rated the dogs’ emotions. In a second experiment with 485 participants, researchers edited the videos to switch the background, making it look like the dog was in a different situation than it actually was.
In both cases, people based their judgments on the surroundings rather than the dog’s actual behavior. For example, if a dog appeared to react to a vacuum cleaner, people assumed it was scared. But if the same dog was shown reacting in the same way to a leash, people assumed it was happy.
“People weren’t judging the dog’s emotions based on its behavior, but on what they expected the dog to feel in that situation,” said Molinaro.
Another reason people misread dogs is because they project human emotions onto them. This process, called “anthropomorphizing,” can make owners think their dog feels emotions just like a person would.
“Humans and dogs have shared a bond for thousands of years, but that doesn’t mean they express emotions in the same way,” said Molinaro. “We need to be more aware of our own biases.”
So how can dog owners avoid misreading their pets?
“The first step is realizing that we aren’t always good at reading dog emotions,” Molinaro explained. “Every dog is unique. Pay attention to your own dog’s specific cues and behaviors.”
She encourages owners to take an extra moment to observe their dog’s reactions rather than making quick assumptions. “If your dog looks ‘guilty’ after being scolded, is she actually feeling guilty, or is she just scared? Learning to see past our human biases can help us build a stronger bond with our dogs.”
