Dogs Can Interpret Human Body Language and Their Gaze

Dogs may be able to interpret human body language far better than scientists expected-but only with training. Researchers have found that dogs follow human gaze cues when trained to do so.

Gaze following to distant space has been documented in many species, such as primates, domesticated goats, several bird species, dolphins, fur seals, the red-footed tortoise, and wolves. However, dogs may be a special case. Researchers have found that dogs are able to follow human gaze to objects such as food or toys, but not into distant space.

In this latest study, the researchers tested two groups of dogs with different amounts of formal training over their lifespan. Both groups participated firstly in a test and control conditions, where their initial gaze following performance was measured. The experimenter obtained the dogs' attention using its name and the command "watch," after which the experimenter turned her head swiftly to look at the door of the testing room in the test condition, or looked down to the floor next to her feet in the control conditions. If the dogs responded by looking at the door within two seconds in the test conditions, but did not look at the door in the control condition, a gaze following response was recorded.

The main group was then given a training session to initiate eye contact over a five minute period. The second group was trained in a task where they had to touch a tennis ball with their paw.

In the end, the researchers found that dogs which had a higher amount of formal training over their lifespan showed a lower gaze following response compared to dogs with little to no training. In addition, short-term training also decreased dogs' gaze following response and increased gaze to the human face.

The findings reveal that formal training has a stronger influence than aging or habituation on dogs' gaze following response. This may explain why previous studies have failed to find a gaze following response when cues to distant space are used.

The findings are published in the journal Animal Behavior.

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