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Are Dogs Capable Of Recognizing our Facial Expression?

3K views 25 replies 20 participants last post by  LARHAGE 
#1 ·
If you came across your dog doing something it ''knows'' it shouldn't be doing yet you gave a very happy welcome with a cheery voice, do you think it would still get the ''guilty'' look on its face and with its body language?
 
#2 ·
Yes, but it's because they've done something they knew they weren't supposed to do. I had this happen after my parrot told my bitch to pee on the floor. I wasn't mad at her at all, but she reacted like I was going to kill her. I also got very good at giving a 'look' to my male when I was fed up with his stunts, and that's all it took to make him quit. They can read facial expressions, but if their own guilt is that high, they may not believe what they're seeing.
 
#3 ·
I know Schatzi and Ellie will act guilty if they've done something naughty. I often never catch them in the act, and don't even realize they've done something wrong until I see those "guilty faces". :rolleyes: One time Schatzi put herself in her timeout spot after shredding a pillow.

As for them recognizing our facial expressions, I recently watched a Nat Geo program where they were studying just that. They found that dogs DO recognize our facial expressions and even our body language. An example in the show was when we point, dogs will often look to where we point. Very interesting stuff.
 
#4 ·
Dogs read humans alot more than many other animals read us. I also recently watched a documentary when dogs and other primates were compared. Not only can dogs understand pointing, they also track our pupil movement to better understand and communicate with humans. For example, even very young puppies can follow our pupils and choose the cup that we look at. Not even other primates do this as well as dogs!

So if they track our pupil movement and know what it means when we LOOK at something, I imagine they can also track our lip movement and know what it means when we curl our lips into smiles or grimaces. These are obviously alot harder to study than pupil movement since they don't always translate to tangible results.
 
#5 ·
i think a dog can recognize some of our body language
but i also think a dog recongnizing our body language
comes along with our training. as we train we use
a certain body language (movement), facial expression, etc.
to do certain things and we probably do it over and over
so the dog recognizes a certain movement
 
#8 ·
I agree with you that alot of it does come with body language that the dog picks up during as they live with us. However, the documentary I saw (and you can watch the full version on a youtube channel in a completely legit way) says that alot of these are products of evolution. VERY young puppies track pupil movement in humans. That's obviously not trained.
 
#6 ·
Koda acts guilty if she does naughty as well :p

I agree with Taylor that they DO in fact recognize our facial expressions. I can give Koda a usual, cheery voice but if I look angry she won't come. If I look sad, she curls up to me and gives me love. If I look nervous she looks for what is bugging me. Same goes for any voice/facial expression combo. She watches my face more than she listens to my tone.
 
#7 ·
Don't forget we also throw out pheromones that dogs pick up....so if we are angry, afraid or sad our scent may tell the dog what we are feeling before our body language or facial expression is even observed.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Dogs recognize MUCH more than facial expressions. When I train with Kyleigh, I don't talk to her AT ALL except for the ONE or TWO words I want her to pair with what I want. I use my body language, facial expressions for her to "get it." (Now when she "gets it" I use TONS of praise, words, etc so she knows she's 'got it')

She knows that when she's on her dog bed in a stay and if she goes to get up, she'll look at me and I'll raise my eyebrows as in REALLY? and she lays back down.

If I'm doing something and she barks at me for attention, I turn, look at her sternly, cross my arms and she goes and lays down and wait until I'm done.

I didn't teach Kyleigh "watch me", or anything like that, I simply expect her to be watching me all the time ... and she does! This to me, is being a confident leader ... letting my dog know that I will lead her ... and all she has to do is watch, and she'll know what to do!
 
#22 ·
Dogs recognize MUCH more than facial expressions.
Yes they do. I can walk through the house with a tiny smidgen of "flavor-doh" (pill wrap) and a pill in it and they know I have it - not smell, it must be how I hold my hands.

"Dogs Decoded" is an excellent documentary about how dogs see us and figure out what is going on, to communicate with us!
 
#11 ·
Out of the 5 times I have cried since Rocky came into adulthood, he has instantly gone from playing with toys/chewing bone to cuddled in my lap and not moving. He never cuddles like this, without moving, unless I am crying. Normally when he does this, I stop crying, so I think it would be a learned behavior?
 
#12 ·
There is an amazing NOVA documentary called "Dogs Decoded" that studies this exact theory. The result: Yes, it is very true that they pick up expressions even without any training, and is probably the result of years of breeding "companion" canines.

Some trainers emphasize no emotions during training and desensitization for this exact reason, so that if you do show the correct emotion in a situation, your dog can pick it up instantly, rather than think that your happy face is normal, or that your serious face is normal.
 
#14 ·
Reading Faces: Differential Lateral Gaze Bias in Processing Canine and Human Facial Expressions in Dogs and 4-Year-Old Children

Dogs Know a Smile When They See It | Facial Expressions & Communication | LiveScience

Another reason dogs rule: They know what you're thinking - Vitals

I am sure there is a range of ability, just like in humans, in terms of ability to read and also a range of desire to respond to what they see, just like in human animals.

I know that with foster dogs, for many of them, it's their first time in close proximity to a person 24/7, and you can see them working hard to process what they are seeing/hearing.
 
#15 ·
Of course. Dogs run mostly on body language. Dogs are vocal too, but if you watch them interact in a pack most of the "talking" is actually done silently. Facial expressions, body expressions, pheromones... they use that to understand each other.

Some are learned as well. Like if a dog is abused... it gets hand shy (or fears whatever item was used), or if every time your dog goes in the house and your cover you nose or curl your lip and then they get in trouble and feel your anger..... well... they are now going to associate that expression with those emotions. Also, dogs learn hand signals or general motions you make to associate that with obedience commands.

If I come home and look at my dogs like I'm angry... it doesn't matter what I'm saying to them, they are going to come up to me confused and wondering what they did wrong. If I come in with a smile on my face and more pep in my step... I could be raising my voice and calling them bad dogs.... they will still come up to me running, happy and excited. It may confuse them a bit, but they still rely mostly on my body and expressions to understand how I am feeling and what I want from them.

It's amazing how much dogs can understand us even without a word spoken. Same with horses.... which is one of the reasons I love animals so much. They are so in tune with their "humans" and the other animals around them. It's pretty neat to watch.
 
#19 ·
Not only is Jax very sensitive to my body language, I've also seen her learn to do something by watching another dog. When I was teaching her Perch, she was intensely watching my trainer's dog doing it. Her turn came and she hopped right up on the dish like a pro.
 
#20 ·
It would be great if by just watching other dogs, the dog watching would pick up the training so easily!
When we are doing the long down, usually someone is doing the retrieves...Karlo watches them, and I've seen him bump up his enthusiasm level when we run through those. exercises.
 
#26 ·
Dogs are pretty amazing in what they are capable of learning. I have a resue Cairn Terrier that is very dog aggressive, even dogs on TV, she barks at them incessantly, one commercial in particular drives her up the wall. The one by Travellers Insurance with the big shaggy dog laying in his dog house, if we're watching TV and that commercial comes on she jumps down and runs to the screen barking at the dog, well, the other day I was making my bed in my room and Bebe the Cairn was with me, she heard the music to that commercial come on and took off barking and growling into the den, I thought it was hilarious that she can tell that song is the one with the dog!!! :)
 
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