Dogs have a surprising ability to make humans understand what their barks and growls mean, a study has shown.And everyone was just so surprised.
Women were better than men at recognizing when a dog was being playful or threatening, or feeling fear, scientists discovered.
And anyone who has been around dogs or other animals for a period of time could have told you the same damn thing. How much was this study again?
For the study, 40 volunteers listened to different growls recorded from 18 dogs that were guarding their food, facing a threatening stranger, or playing a tug-of-war game.
My cat is actually slightly more articulate than the dogs. I've never had a cat that talked that much. The dogs use more body language than he does, but they don't hit me up for money as often.
Overall, participants correctly classified 63 per cent of the growl samples - significantly more than would be expected by guesswork alone, said the researchers.
I'm guessing sixty three percent translate as "give me food." No idea what the rest of it is.
Each growl type was also recognized above chance level. The human listeners identified 81 per cent of the "play" growls but were less good at recognizing food guarding and threatening growls.
If you have two dogs in the house you WILL recognize that one
Dr Tamas Farago and his team from Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary wrote in the journal Royal Society Open Science: "Participants associated the correct contexts with the growls above chance.
If you were trying to take a nap or a bath they're usually saying "Boss! Boss! There's somebody out front!"
"Moreover, women and participants experienced with dogs scored higher in this task."
No shit....
Kinda like saying someone that has been around lots of guns can identify different guns by their report, or a bird watcher can identify different birds by their calls...
How much was this study again?
During play, dogs produced a larger number of shorter, less separated, growls than when they were aggressive or fearful, the research showed. Play growls and food guarding growls also had distinctively different pitch characteristics.
There's a particular snarl that sez "I'm gonna rip your throat out if you don't get away from my bowl! That's not far enough away!"
As well as identifying growl contexts, the volunteers also had to rate growls on a sliding scale according to five emotional states - aggression, fear, despair, happiness and playfulness.
"Despair?" You mean like when doggy's been left at the vet?
Context had a "significant effect" on reading dog emotions, said the scientists. Playful growls were rated lowest for aggression, and food guarding growls highest.
Context has a significant effect with human language as well.
The scientists concluded: "Our results ... indicate that dogs communicate honestly their size and inner state in serious contest situations, where confrontation would be costly, such as during guarding of their food from another dog. At the same time, in contexts with assumedly more uncertain inner states, such as in play or when threatened by a stranger, they may manipulate certain key parameters in their growls for an exaggerated aggressive and playful expression.
How prominently fangs are shown is a part of it. If Phideau has ripped open the garbage and gorged himself on chicken bones and rotting corned beef hash you might hear a particular kind of whine that translates as "The cat told me it was okay! Please don't hit me again!"
"According to our results, adult humans seem to understand and respond accordingly to this acoustic information during cross-species interactions with dogs."
As with any animal species we spend a great deal of time with.
How much was this stupid study again?