Blinks and dog interaction

[sandgrubber]

https://www.science.org/content/article/dogs-people-may-use-blinking-bond?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=650f7314e1-nature-briefing-daily-20250219&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b27a691814-650f7314e1-50644548

 

Another subtle behavior to watch for.

Edited 12 hours ago by sandgrubber
typo

[persephone]

Oh  Thank you . That was interesting .

[Mairead]

Can't find a mention of sample size or characteristics in an article by the author. The photo for facial expressions shows only a Malinois and a Weimaraner. 

Behaviourists used to say a direct stare was a sign of aggression, so couldn't have been any sighthounds in the experiments. 

Edited Friday at 01:00 AM by Mairead

[sandgrubber]

On 21/02/2025 at 1:58 PM, Mairead said:

Can't find a mention of sample size or characteristics in an article by the author.

Go to the referenced article for methods

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.241703

 

"3.1. Subjects

Fifty-four dogs, 30 females (24 neutered, 6 intact) and 24 males (10 neutered, 14 intact), aged between 1 and 12 years (mean = 6.06) were tested in a within-subject design study (electronic supplementary material, table S1). Medium to large size (small sizes were not included due to the Polar WearLink® strap minimum length), purebred as well as mix-breed dogs were recruited. Only mesocephalic dogs were included, to control for the influence of morphology on the facial expressions exhibited. Subjects were recruited from the database of our laboratory and adverts on social media and none of them was familiar with the dog actors. The inclusion criteria for the subjects required that dogs had to be awake, with eyes open and maintain head orientation towards the stimulus for at least 4 s within the video projection."

 

Breeds are mentioned for the pilot study.

Edited 12 hours ago by sandgrubber

[Mairead]

"Two dogs that never paid attention to the video were discarded."

I don't think that's good science. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by Mairead