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What’s Up, Pup?

When dogs make faces, are they trying to tell us something?

November 2018
By Nell Durfee

You wave a treat in front of your pooch and ask: “Who’s a good boy?” Your dog wags his tail and opens his mouth in what looks like a smile. “I am a good boy,” he seems to reply. “Gimme that treat!”

Dogs pay close attention to people’s faces and tone of voice. So when they seem to grin or furrow their brows, it’s easy to think they’re trying to talk back, says Juliane Kaminski. She’s a psychologist at the University of Portsmouth in England who studies how animals think.

But do dogs really make faces to try to communicate with people? Kaminski and a team of scientists set out to investigate.

You wave a treat in front of your pooch. You ask, “Who’s a good boy?” Your dog wags his tail. It opens his mouth in what looks like a smile. “I am a good boy,” he seems to say. “Gimme that treat!”

Dogs pay close attention to people’s faces. They listen to our tone of voice. They sometimes seem to grin or furrow their brows in response. So it’s easy to think they’re trying to talk back, says Juliane Kaminski. She studies how animals think. She works at the University of Portsmouth in England.

But do dogs really make faces to try to communicate with people? Kaminski and a team of scientists set out to investigate.

Making Faces
Watch a video about how scientists study animals’ facial expressions.

Paws and Effect

Kaminski’s test involved 24 dogs of different breeds and their owners. In a quiet room, the owners performed four actions. They faced the dog and held a treat, faced the dog with no treat, faced a wall while holding a treat, and faced the wall without a treat. A camera recorded the dogs’ expressions.

Later, Kaminski reviewed the images and assigned a code to each expression. Then she looked for patterns in the data. Did the dogs change faces when they spotted treats? Or were they making faces to catch their owners’ eyes? 

Kaminski’s test involved 24 dogs of different breeds. The owners did four actions in a quiet room. They faced the dog and held a treat. Then they faced the dog with no treat. Next, they faced a wall while holding a treat. And finally, they faced the wall without a treat. A camera recorded the faces the dogs made.

Later, Kaminski reviewed the images. She and gave a code to each expression. Then she looked for patterns in the data. Did the dogs change faces when they spotted treats? Or were they making faces to catch their owners’ eyes?

Sending a Message

Kaminski found that the dogs raised their eyebrows and let their tongues hang out more often when they could see their owners’ faces than when the owners were turned away. It didn’t matter if the people were holding treats.

Those results suggest that the dogs weren’t just looking for food. By making different faces, they were trying to send a message to their owners. As for what the dogs were trying to say, the scientists can’t be sure. 

Certain dog faces do seem to affect human behavior. In an earlier study, Kaminski found that dogs in shelters that raise their eyebrows get adopted more often. “It’s the typical puppy dog eyes that every dog owner falls for,” Kaminski says.

Kaminski found that sometimes the dogs raised their eyebrows. They also let their tongues hang out. They did this more often when they could see their owners’ faces. But not when the owners were turned away. It didn’t matter if the people were holding treats.

Those results suggest the dogs weren’t just looking for food. They were trying to send a message to their owners by making different faces. What were the dogs trying to say exactly? The scientists can’t be sure.

Certain dog faces do seem to affect human behavior. Kaminski did an earlier study. Shefound that dogs in shelters that raise their eyebrows get adopted more often. “It’s the typical puppy dog eyes that every dog owner falls for,” Kaminski says.

Investigate It!

Scientists often follow a set of practices to find things out. First they ask questions. Then they plan investigations to answer those questions. They collect data to inform their research. Then they analyze the data and draw conclusions.

Think about how the scientists in the article followed these practices. Then answer the questions below.

1. What did Kaminski and her team want to investigate?

2. Why did Kaminski have owners perform the four actions described?

3. What did her findings suggest?

4. What’s one question you have about animal behavior? How would you investigate it?

Scientists often follow a set of practices to find things out. First they ask questions. Then they plan investigations to answer those questions. They collect data to inform their research. Then they analyze the data and draw conclusions.

Think about how the scientists in the article followed these practices. Then answer the questions below.

1. What did Kaminski and her team want to investigate?

2. What did her findings suggest?

3. Why did Kaminski have owners perform the four actions described?

4. What’s one question you have about animal behavior? How would you investigate it?

Investigate It!

Scientists often follow a set of practices to find things out. First they ask questions. Then they plan investigations to answer those questions. They collect data to inform their research. Then they analyze the data and draw conclusions.

Think about how the scientists in the article followed these practices. Then answer the questions below.

1. What did Kaminski and her team want to investigate?

2. Why did Kaminski have owners perform the four actions described?

3. What did her findings suggest?

4. What’s one question you have about animal behavior? How would you investigate it?

Scientists often follow a set of practices to find things out. First they ask questions. Then they plan investigations to answer those questions. They collect data to inform their research. Then they analyze the data and draw conclusions.

Think about how the scientists in the article followed these practices. Then answer the questions below.

1. What did Kaminski and her team want to investigate?

2. What did her findings suggest?

3. Why did Kaminski have owners perform the four actions described?

4. What’s one question you have about animal behavior? How would you investigate it?

Life Science
Animal Behavior
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