Dogs Are Getting Stressed Because Humans Can’t Read Them Properly

Many of us consider our dogs to be a part of our families, but scientists have found we still are not able to accurately judge the meaning in their behavior.

An international team of researchers led by Elizabeth Ann Walsh of the Cork Pet Behavior Centre in Ireland discovered that our urge to cuddle, pet, or play with a dog can lead them to feel stressed or afraid, as not all canines enjoy these interactions.

For the study, the researchers analyzed 190 popular videos of humans interacting with dogs—clips with the most likes—on video sharing sites. They compared the behaviors we commonly exhibit with dogs (including playing, petting and hugging) with how the dogs reacted, for example by barking, biting, licking, or tail wagging.

The findings revealed that humans often fail to understand a dog’s body language, or the meaning of their vocalizations, during these interactions.

In many of the videos which featured humans ‘playing’ with dogs, the animals exhibited signs they were uncomfortable or stressed. In fact, only one dog did a play bow, which is a common way for dogs to invite other dogs, animals or humans to play.

Although hugging is a typical human behavior, dogs often find it difficult to understand—often responding to such with calming behaviors, such as turning away to create space between themselves and the hugger. Unfortunately, these behaviors are often perceived as cute or funny by humans, according to the study authors.

In clips that showed humans ‘hugging’ dogs, as they would another human, many of the animals exhibited such calming behaviors.

For example, 68 percent of dogs turned their head away from the hugger, 81 percent were observed blinking, and 60 percent flattened their ears. The dogs were heard barking in 13 percent of the videos and in 67.5 percent, the dogs tried to bite the humans hugging them.

“Our findings highlight the importance of understanding how our behavior may impact dogs, and how dogs communicate their emotional states to us,” Walsh said in a press release.

“An example of this is hugging, which dogs often find difficult to read or understand. We encourage people to look for the ‘tell-tail’ signs that a dog may feel unhappy or uncomfortable, even during what we perceive to be play.”

Struggling to read a dog’s behavior can have disastrous consequences. Not only can it strain the bond between human and animal, but a seriously stressed dog could resort to defensive behaviors that can lead to injuries.

Although children and their pets can have strong bonds, the researchers highlighted that children are the most at-risk of being bitten because of their unpredictable, loud and uninhibited behavior.

As well as supervising interactions between kids and dogs, it is also important for both adults and children to recognize the signs a dog may be uncomfortable or anxious.

While some signs are more obvious, like growling, other stress-related behaviors are more subtle, like leaning away, and lip-licking.

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science.

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