Do you think dogs make faces at you? Yes you are right!

a report on October 19 A group of scientists from the University of Portsmouth (UK) published in which they said that dogs use facial expressions to establish contact with humans. Previously, it was believed that their facial expressions are an involuntary emotional manifestation, and not a conscious action aimed at social interaction with a person.

The study involved 24 dogs of different breeds and ages. The subjects were launched into the room where the person was. The experiment had several scenarios: the person either looked at the dog or stood with his back to it; there were treats for dogs in the room; in one scenario there were no treats.

The scientists photographed the dogs throughout the experiment. It turned out that the facial movements of the dog were more active when the person paid attention to the animal than when the participant of the experiment stood with his back to her. Scientists emphasize that dogs used facial expressions in order to establish contact, and not for manipulation - treats had little effect on the behavior of the animal.

The study showed that dogs have a specific set of facial movements. For example, many dogs raised their eyebrows to pity a person. With such muscle movements, the eyes of the animal looked larger, and the look became sad. Previously, scientists from Portsmouth conducted a study in which they found that in shelters, people are more likely to notice dogs that actively use facial expressions.

Scientists emphasize that it is not yet possible to decipher this or that mimic movement of a dog. “We don’t know if dogs understand that they can influence our behavior through facial expressions,” said one of the authors of the study, Juliana Kaminsky.

Anya Shpilkovskaya