Dog Facial Expressions: Unmasking Canine Manipulation

Did you know that your dog manipulates you at will? Dogs’ facial expressions are more significant when looking at them:

• Animals produce more facial expressions when humans look at them
• Scientists from the Dog Cognition Centre at the University of Portsmouth discovered this.
• They are the first to find evidence that dogs move their faces in response to human attention.
• They often use eyebrow-raising, which triggers so-called ‘puppy eyes.’
• This has led researchers to believe that dogs can ‘manipulate’ their owners to their liking when being watched.

According to research from the University of Portsmouth, dogs produce more facial expressions when humans look at them. Scientists at the university’s Dog Cognition Centre are the first to find clear evidence that dogs move their faces in direct response to human attention.

Eyebrow raising, which makes the eyes look bigger – so-called puppy-dog eyes – was the dogs’ most commonly used expression in this research. Dr Juliane Kaminski, an expert in canine cognition who led the study published in Scientific Reports, said: ”We can now be sure that the production of facial expressions by dogs depends on the state of attention of the audience and is not just the result of the dogs’ excitement.”

One thing that got me really excited is that we could see that dogs would move their faces more, so show more expression, more facial movement when a person was looking at them.

Dr Juliane Kaminski, Reader in Comparative Psychology

“In our study, dogs produced more expressions when someone looked at them, but seeing a treat did not have the same effect. The results confirm that dogs are sensitive to human attention and that expressions are potentially active communication attempts, not simple emotional displays”. Dr Kaminski pointed out that dogs’ facial expressions may have changed during domestication.

Dogs expressions. How were these results achieved?

To arrive at these results, the researchers studied 24 dogs of various breeds, aged between 1 and 12. Each dog was tied with a leash one metre away from a person, and the dogs’ faces were filmed during a series of exchanges, from the person-oriented toward the dog to the distracted person with their body turned away.

The dogs’ facial expressions were measured using DogFACS, an anatomically-based coding system that provides a reliable and standardised measurement of facial changes related to underlying muscle movement.

Puppy eyes are a facial expression that closely resembles sadness in humans. This may make humans more empathetic towards the dog using this expression. Alternatively, making the dog’s eyes appear larger and more childlike taps into humans’ preference for youthful characteristics.

Regardless of the mechanism, humans are susceptible to this expression in dogs. This is why it can be said that, to a certain extent, dogs go on to ‘manipulate‘ their masters with their faces at will.

Conclusion

Understanding our dogs makes it clear just how attuned they are to human emotions and attention. Studies confirm that dogs actively use facial expressions, particularly 'puppy eyes,' as a subtle form of communication and, in some cases, gentle manipulation. This interaction highlights the unique bond between humans and dogs, shaped by thousands of years of domestication. Whether aiming to win a treat or simply connect with us, our dogs’ expressions reveal their remarkable sensitivity to our attention, reinforcing our unique, mutually influential relationship.

Thank you for reading the article to the end. Your reading contribution was significant to us.

Affiliate Disclosure: we want to be transparent with our readers. Some links in this article may be affiliate links. This means that, at no additional cost, we may earn a small commission if you purchase through these links. Rest assured, we only recommend products and services we believe will add value to your journey as a new pet parent.