the intuitive canine

Studies are starting to prove that dogs are more in tune with humans than we ever thought possible. They have an uncanny ability to read and respond to human emotions and gestures.

Unlike Any Other Animal
Professor Daniel Mills at England’s University of Lincoln has concluded that dogs are able to recognize human emotions from facial expressions and tell when we are mad, happy, or frightened. When humans come across another human face, their eyes initially look left and fall upon the right side of the face, which is said to be the most expressive. Through the use of eye-tracking software, Mills and his team have found that dogs follow a similar pattern when confronted with a human face. No other animals have proven to have the same type of relationship with human faces as dogs and only dogs engage in this “left face bias” when approached by a human.

Dog vs. Chimps
A study conducted by Juliane Kaminski revealed that dogs are the only animals that respond to human gestures such as pointing. Even chimps, the closest primate relative to the human being, are unable to comprehend the pointing cue. Furthermore, Kaminski’s research shows that dogs are even able to pick up on something as subtle as the direction of a human gaze.