Pet Project: Humans can read dogs’ facial expressions, study suggests
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Can you read what’s written on your dog’s face? In this week’s Pet Project, Pennsylvania SPCA advocate Carol Erickson explains new research out of George Washington University suggesting that, yes, owners can read their dogs’ faces, especially dogs whose faces are a single color. It might be harder to discern what a dog with a multi-colored face is thinking, researchers found.
Humans were most likely to correctly read the faces of dogs between 2 and 7 years old, according to the study. Senior dogs were less expressive, researchers found, perhaps because their owners already know them well. “This study is important because it shows that people are in the house with animals, you’re seeing animals on the street, and if you can learn to read their faces as they’ve learned to read ours, it really helps that human-animal bond,” Erickson said. Erickson shares more about the findings in this video.
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