Do you understand your dog? Think again

People interpret a dog's emotions based on its situation and have 'a big blind spot', finds a study

- EMILY ANTHES

DOGS CAN'T TALK, but their body language speaks volumes. Many dogs will bow when they want to play, for instance, or lick their lips and avert their gaze when nervous or afraid. But people aren't always good at interpreting such cues — or even noticing them, a new study suggests.

In the study, the researchers presented people with videos of a dog reacting to positive and negative stimuli, including a leash, a treat, a vacuum cleaner, and a scolding. When asked to assess the dog's emotions, viewers seemed to pay more attention to the situational cues than the dog's actual behavior, even when the videos had been edited to be deliberately misleading. (In one video, for instance, a dog that appeared to be reacting to the sight of his leash had actually been shown a vacuum cleaner by his owner.)