WEBVTT - Do Dogs Use Facial Expressions to Communicate with Us?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. If you're like me, you love dogs,

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<v Speaker 1>possibly more than people. Some days, their warm eyes and

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<v Speaker 1>doggie grins have me wrapped around their fluffy pupper tails,

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<v Speaker 1>and according to new research from the University of Portsmouth's

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<v Speaker 1>Dog Cognition Center, dogs deliberately make more facial expressions when

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<v Speaker 1>we're watching them, and it could be their way to

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<v Speaker 1>communicate with us. The study was led by Dr Julienne

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<v Speaker 1>Kaminsky and published in a twenty seventeen issue of Scientific Reports.

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<v Speaker 1>Kaminski and her research team came to their conclusion after

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<v Speaker 1>watching twenty four different dogs, all family pets of varying

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<v Speaker 1>breeds and ages. Each dog was filmed individually in a

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<v Speaker 1>room with a person who went through various scenarios, including

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<v Speaker 1>looking at the dog, looking away from the dog, and

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<v Speaker 1>giving the dog food. The scientists then studied the dog's

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<v Speaker 1>facial expressions using the Dog Facial Action Coding System or

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<v Speaker 1>Dog FACTS, which is a scientific tool for coding canines

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<v Speaker 1>facial movements. It was adapted from the FACTS system created

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<v Speaker 1>for humans back in night. Kaminsky and her team discovered

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<v Speaker 1>that each dog made animated faces when the person in

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<v Speaker 1>the room was looking at it, including raising its eyebrows

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<v Speaker 1>and sticking out its tongue a much more than when

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<v Speaker 1>the person's back was turned. In a press statement, Dr

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<v Speaker 1>Kaminsky said the findings appear to support evidence that dogs

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<v Speaker 1>are sensitive to humans attention and that expressions are potentially

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<v Speaker 1>active attempts to communicate, not simple emotional displays. Most surprisingly

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<v Speaker 1>is that even the presence of food didn't influence the

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<v Speaker 1>dogs as much as human affection. Kaminski said, we knew

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<v Speaker 1>domestic dogs paid attention to how attentive a human is.

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<v Speaker 1>In a previous study, we found, for example, the dogs

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<v Speaker 1>stole food more often when the human's eyes were closed

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<v Speaker 1>or when they had their back turned. In another study,

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<v Speaker 1>we found dogs follow the gaze of a human if

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<v Speaker 1>the human first establishes eye contact with the dog, so

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<v Speaker 1>the dog knows that the gaze shift is erected at them.

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<v Speaker 1>Kabinski says it's possible that the expressions of dogs have

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<v Speaker 1>changed as they've become more domesticated, but the study does

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<v Speaker 1>have its limits. Twenty four canines makes for a small

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<v Speaker 1>study sample, so it's likely that more dogs should be

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<v Speaker 1>studied to confirm these findings, which sounds like an excellent

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<v Speaker 1>research session to me. Today's episode was written by Sarah

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<v Speaker 1>Glime and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this

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<v Speaker 1>and lots of other tail wagging topics, visit our home planet,

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<v Speaker 1>how Stuff Works dot com