Often dogs know how to understand what their master feels even before this is aware of it. And in the same way, anyone who has lived with one of these animals can tell you how easy it is to read the emotions that transpire from a barefoot, or from a subdued uggio. Or at least, that’s what we believe. A new research by Arizona State University reveals that we human beings are much less capable of reading the emotions of the dogs than we like to think, and this not for lack of expressive abilities on their part, but because too often we give in to the temptation to anthropomorphizing their behaviors, projecting the emotions and behaviors of our species on our four -legged friends.
The study, published in the magazine Anthrozoös, describes two experiments made by American researchers to verify which clues to use men to evaluate the emotional state of dogs, and indicates that the judgment takes place mainly based on context information, that is, what we think is happening around the dog, and not from a careful reading of animal behavior.
“People do not look at the dog does, but to the situation that surrounds him, and base their emotional perception on this,” explains Holly Molinaro, researcher of the Arizona State University who participated in the study. “Our dogs actually try to communicate with us, but we humans seem determined to observe anything, except the dogs themselves.”
The experiments were made using videos showing dogs in joyful or sad situations, turned around for example while some delicacies were offered, or while they were scolded by the owner. In the first of the two tests, the videos were shown to a group of volunteers (383 people), both with, and without, information on the context of the scene that was observed, while in the second another 485 people viewed the fenmed fictions with a assembly of the images that turned upside down the context in which the animal was actually found: a dog that was receiving food seemed to be taken during a scolded, and so on. The researchers therefore asked the participants to evaluate the emotional state of animals in the different clips.
What “dogs say”
The results showed that the assessments of the participants were influenced much more by the type of stage they thought they were observing, rather than by the reactions of the animals: when the assembly made it think that the dog was scolded or was frightened by the noise of a vacuum cleaner, the people were much more likely to consider the reaction negative, even if the original recovery was that of a happy dog, who was receiving pampering or gratifications of other type.
The interpretation of canine reactions is therefore strongly influenced by our expectations, and often very little by what really does the animal. Is it possible to improve the ability to read the emotions that experience our pets? According to Molinaro yes, as long as he becomes aware of our limits.
“The first step is to realize that we are not so good at reading the emotions of the dogs – he explains – We must be more humble when we try to understand what our animal feels. Once our limits are understood, we can start seeing our puppy under a new light. Each dog has his own personality, and therefore a different way of expressing his emotions”.
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If we scold a dog because we think he has done something bad – for example the researcher reason – his guilty face is really due to the guilt? Or is it only due to the fear of being further scolded? “Taking two more seconds to focus on the behavior of our dog and be aware of having to overcome the prejudices that push us to look at the situation and not to the dog’s behavior can help you understand the real emotional state of the animal – concludes Molinaro – and this will create a stronger link between you”.