
Study Finds People Aren't Good At Reading Dog Body Language
The study involved a favorite activity of many dog lovers: watching dog videos. As part of her Ph.D. research, Holly Molinaro shot videos of her father interacting with the family dog, Oliver. Sometimes he would offer Oliver a treat or show him a leash for a walk, which made the dog happy. In other videos, he might reprimand Oliver or hold up his nemesis, a cat named Saffron.
Working with Clive Wynne, Ph.D., director of the Canine Science Collaboratory and author of 'Dog is Love: Why and How Your Dog Loves You,' Molinaro then showed three versions of the videos to 400 study participants — which led to surprising results.
When the videos were unedited, a majority of people could correctly identify whether Oliver was happy or stressed. But when the videos were edited to simply show Oliver with a black background, they couldn't form an opinion about the dog's emotions.
When the videos were edited to show Oliver reacting to a different prompt than what actually happened — like the father showing Oliver a cat in the video, when in reality he had been offering the dog a piece of cheese — participants had strong and wrong opinions about how Oliver was feeling.
'The whole study was very surprising,' Dr. Wynne said. 'The finding, in a nutshell, is that when you show people a video of a dog reacting to something and you ask them how the dog is feeling, they will look at everything you show them except the dog when making their mind up. So people are really bad at paying attention to dogs when it comes to assessing how a dog is feeling — whether a dog is happy or sad.'
One important caveat is that due to ethical considerations, the research did not involve doing anything to make Oliver extremely distressed, Dr. Wynne notes. Instead, the research was limited to potentially negative things a dog might encounter in an ordinary day, such as a cat or nail clippers.
'I'm pretty confident that people would have accurately identified a terrified dog,' he says. 'We just wouldn't do that.'
Since dogs live in 68 million U.S. homes, Dr. Wynne feels it's imperative that people make a concerted effort to better read their emotions.
'One of the morals I draw from our research is that I encourage people to get to know their own dog,' he says. 'Now I'm on a mission to convince people that they don't really know what a dog is feeling and that they should give their dog a chance to teach them.'
He suggests paying close attention to what your dog does when they're typically excited or happy about an activity, such as seeing a leash when it's time for a walk.
'We need to watch our whole dog from the tip of their tail to the tip of the snout and everything in between. The ears can be expressive. Obviously the hackles, how the hair moves, the overall bodily posture,' he says. 'As much as possible, just try to be like a scientist: don't watch by imposing your preconceptions, watch neutrally and learn. Let the dog teach you what their happiness looks like, what their anxiety looks like.'
Puppies and dogs are individuals, so Dr. Wynne advises against making one-size-fits-all assumptions about canine body language, facial expressions and noises. For example, growling is generally considered to be a threatening warning from a less-than-happy dog. But his late mixed-breed dog, Xephos, used to growl in happiness. (Similarly, attuned people with Rottweilers often know their dogs are happy when they hear the 'Rottie Rumble' during play — almost like a cat's purr.)
When a dog yawns, they might be sleepy or just awakening from a nap, but yawning can also be a sign of stress (particularly when ears are pinned back, and eyes are averted). A 'smiling' dog might just be keeping their mouth open because it's hot.
While some people believe a wagging tail is always a happy sign, it can also indicate anxiety. Research in Italy found that when dogs wag their tails to the right, they're experiencing positive emotions; conversely, a left-wagging tail denotes negative emotions, he notes.
Ultimately, learning to understand how our dogs are feeling will help us be better companions, according to Dr. Wynne.
'We have 80 million dogs living in our homes in the United States, and the vast majority of us want what's best for our dogs – we love them and want what's best for them,' he says. 'But how can we do that if we don't actually know when they're happy and when they're stressed? We have to know how they're feeling in order to be able to give them their best lives.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Medscape
19 minutes ago
- Medscape
More Data Cement COVID's Impact on Patients With Cancer
TOPLINE: New data confirm the impact COVID infection can have on patients with cancer and identified several risk factors associated with hospitalization and death. Receipt of chemotherapy as well as a baseline history of stroke, atrial fibrillation, or pulmonary embolism were each associated with nearly double the risk for COVID-related hospitalization. Prior vaccination halved this risk. Older age and earlier hospitalization were associated with a greater risk for death. METHODOLOGY: Patients undergoing active cancer treatment are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 due to immunosuppression, but risk factors for hospitalization and death are not well-defined. Researchers conducted a prospective cohort study involving 1572 patients with cancer (median age, 60 years; 53.4% women), enrolled within 14 days of a positive SARS-CoV-2 test; participants had received active treatment for cancer within 6 weeks before testing or had undergone prior stem cell transplant or CAR T-cell therapy. Patient screening and enrollment took place between May 2020 and February 2022. Treatments included chemotherapy (34.3%), targeted therapy (27.7%), and immunotherapy (10.6%). Breast (23.6%) and lung (13.9%) cancers were the most common cancer types. Overall, 64% of participants had metastatic disease, and at enrollment, 64% had not received a COVID vaccine. Study outcomes were COVID-related hospitalization or death. Risk factors for hospitalization and for death among hospitalized patients were evaluated separately. TAKEAWAY: At 90 days after an initial positive test, COVID-related mortality was 3% and remained stable at subsequent follow-ups. The highest incidence occurred in patients with lymphoma, followed by those with acute leukemia or lung cancer; the lowest incidence occurred in those with other types of solid tumors and blood cancers. Hospitalization for COVID-19 occurred in 18.4% of patients within 90 days of enrollment. The risk for hospitalization was elevated among patients who received chemotherapy (hazard ratio [HR], 1.97) and those with a history of stroke, atrial fibrillation, and pulmonary embolism (HR, 1.78). Vaccination prior to infection reduced the risk for hospitalization by nearly half (HR, 0.52). Hospitalization for COVID-19 within 30 days of infection was associated with an increased risk for death (HR, 14.6). Among patients hospitalized for COVID within 30 days, age 65 years or older was the only significant predictor of COVID-specific death (HR, 3.49). Over the 2-year follow-up, there were 1739 disruptions to cancer treatment; 50.7% of these were attributed to COVID-19, and most occurred within 30 days of a positive test. IN PRACTICE: 'The data from this prospective cohort study confirm and expand previous retrospective case series that have found factors, including hematologic cancers, chemotherapy receipt, and lung cancer, as associated with COVID-19 severity,' the authors of the study wrote, noting that the results 'showed that COVID-19 had a significant impact on patients with cancer, including hospitalization, treatment disruptions, and death.' SOURCE: This study, led by Brian I. Rini, MD, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, Tennessee, was published online in JAMA Oncology. LIMITATIONS: Information on specific strains was not available. This study lacked a control group of patients without COVID-19, which limited causal inference. Additionally, as participants were enrolled through the National Cancer Institute trial networks, generalizability to a broader population could be limited. DISCLOSURES: This study was funded in part by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and the National Cancer Institute National Clinical Trials Network, Experimental Therapeutics Clinical Trials Network, and Community Oncology Research Program grants via the U10 funding mechanism. Several authors declared receiving grants and/or personal fees and having other ties with various sources. This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.


CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
Foul-smelling corpse flower reaches peak bloom as crowds line up in Massachusetts
An extremely rare and foul-smelling flower has reached its peak bloom Sunday night in Dover, Massachusetts. The amorphophallus titanum, or corpse flower, only blooms once every 10 years for a 24-hour period. The flower, named Eliza, can currently be seen at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Dover. Experts said the flower grows from a seed, one big tall leaf per year, for about 10 years. Then it literally heats up, creating a gas inside, and then opens. The Massachusetts Horticultural Society was open Sunday night until midnight for people who came to see and smell the flower. "I came because it's a rare event and I always thought it'd be neat to see one of these rare flowers," said visitor Shari Wall. "The smell is not easy to take, it's kind of like a hot garbage can!" "It smells like rotting diapers. Though I hear when it gets hotter, it's more stinkier, so I'm glad I'm here when it's cooler," said visitor Isaac Verardo. Wheaton College grew the corpse flower in their research greenhouse in nearby Norton. In the middle of summer, no one would be on-campus to experience it, so the Massachusetts Horticultural Society agreed to host the event. Anyone interested in braving the flower's rancid smell can visit the Massachusetts Horticultural Society starting Monday at 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. Timed tickets are required to view the flower and can be purchased on their website.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Android phones helping detect potential earthquakes
(NewsNation) — More and more every day, it seems like smartphones can expand our knowledge on everything, including detecting potential earthquakes. Earthquakes? Yes. Recently, researchers from Google and partner institutions shared results from the Android Earthquake Alerts system. The AEA, over the last three years, has expanded earthquake warning coverage from 250 million people to 2.5 billion in 98 countries. The system sends a signal to Google's earthquake detection server, and the possible location where the shaking occurs. It then analyzes data from phones to confirm that an earthquake is happening, while also estimating its location and magnitude. Two alerts are then sent out: BeAware and TakeAction. Alaska is the most earthquake-prone state. Here is why Wednesday's earthquake was notable 'The system has now detected over 18,000 earthquakes, from small tremors of M1.9 to major quakes reaching M7.8,' according to the research. 'For the events significant enough to warn people, alerts were issued for over 2000 earthquakes, culminating in 790 million alerts being sent to phones worldwide.' 'The impact has been a ~10x change in the number of people with access to EEW systems.' Dating back to March 31, 2024, AEA has issued alerts to Android phones for a total of 1279 events that were detected. Only three were false alarms, with two resulting from thunderstorms. Android phones make up more than 70% of the world's smartphones as of July 2025. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword