Think you know if your dog is happy or afraid? You’re probably wrong

Dog owners may think they know their pet’s every thought – but a study has found that people are not as good at identifying canine emotions as they believe.

People consistently overestimated how good they were at identifying the mood of a dog from body language and facial expressions, data showed.

Pain, frustration and fear were the emotions humans got wrong most – and happiness was the easiest to recognise.

Prof Kun Guo of the University of Lincoln, the lead author of the research, said: “Our study highlights the complexity of understanding dog emotions and the importance of considering both facial expressions and body language.

Credit: YouTube / Kun Guo

“By improving how we interpret these cues, we can enhance human-dog relationships and ensure better care and welfare for our canine companions.”

The study of 447 people aged 16 to 75 included dog owners, people without dogs, and professionals such as vets.

Every participant watched 44 short videos and was asked what emotion a dog was experiencing from a list of 11 options. Some videos showed just the face of the dog, while others included its body language.

People tended to be better at understanding emotions when they could see the dog’s whole body, especially with happiness, fear, and sadness. Anger, surprise and “neutral” emotions were clearer and easier to spot with just facial expressions.

Credit: YouTube / Kun Guo

One in four people could correctly say when a dog was afraid if its entire body was visible, but this dropped to just seven per cent when only the face was shown.

However, just one quarter could identify surprise with the dog’s full body in sight, rising to 43 per cent for facial expressions only.

“There exist large discrepancies between ‘what we believe’ and ‘what we can do’ in relation to detecting [at least some] dog emotions,” the scientists wrote in their paper, published in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science.

Almost everyone (96 per cent) thought they could identify a happy dog, for example, but the actual figure was less than two in three (63 per cent).

Only one in four people could spot distress, the data showed, although 96 per cent of people thought they were able to identify it.

Credit: YouTube / Kun Guo

Almost nine in ten (89 per cent) people thought they could see fear, compared to 16 per cent who actually could.

A study by the Czech University of Life Sciences earlier this year found that brachycephalic dogs, those with short snouts and flat faces, had a reduced ability to communicate with facial expressions.

A third study found that a dog’s fur colouration influenced communication, with humans being more adept at comprehending the facial expressions of a dog with a single, solid coat colour, compared to a breed with multiple colours or patterns.

The research, from George Washington University, suggested that the greater the markings on a dog, the more challenging it became for them to convey their emotions effectively.

Credit: YouTube / Kun Guo

Prof Guo told The Telegraph: “Misinterpretation of canine emotions can lead to negative public attitudes toward dogs, suffering in dogs … owner distress and mental health issues, reduced societal benefits and possible physical harm to humans.”

Owners hoping to understand their dogs should use dogs’ facial cues, body language and vocalisations – and understand they communicate differently from humans, said Prof Guo.

“Unlike humans, dogs’ bodies are likely to be a primary source of information for dogs to assess each other’s emotional state,” he said.

“So if we can pay attention to dog bodily expression signals on top of their facial signals we tend to read dog emotions better.”