Walsh, E.A., Meers, L.L., Samuels, W.E., Boonen, D., Claus, A., Duarte-Gan, C., Stevens, V., Contalbrigo, L. and Normando, S., 2024. Human-dog communication: How body language and non-verbal cues are key to clarity in dog directed play, petting and hugging behaviour by humans. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 272, p.106206
Clarity of communication
Clarity of communication between humans, intended to convey a message, may be misunderstood, or ambiguous, depending on many influencing variables, including impaired vision/hearing, neuro-divergence, culture, native language accent and gestures.
We know human individual differences play a large part in how we interpret our surroundings and interactions with others. Even among humans, some forms of communication/touch between adults require consent; misunderstandings may cause offence/hurt/anger within a relationship (Anyadike-Danes et al., 2024). A more perfunctory hug might be exchanged, between e.g., politicians as a symbolic gesture (Forsell and Åström, 2012). Gift giving between humans, can take various forms, and for varying motivations, however, relational gifting is indicative of a relationship, (Davies et al., 2010). Humans tend to make videos/photos/selfies (Sun, 2017) of family, friends, and pets, often uploading video and photos to social media platforms to share.
Canine communication entails the use of ears, face, muzzle, teeth, body, coat, paws, and tail, all in addition to odours, all in combination with vocalisations (Lord et al., 2009). However, misunderstandings can occur between puppies/dogs of differing breeds due to morphological differences which have challenged some breeds’ ability to signal clearly.Intraspecific communication in animals has been problematic to define in absolute terms, however, species such as dogs have a robustly researched and documented repertoire of behavioural body language, signalling and vocalizations. Humans tend to exhibit human communicative gestures of affection to their dogs, including hugging, touching, kissing and restraining them.
Play
Play is an essential element of the ontogenesis of any puppy/dog; however, it appears that intra and interspecies play in dogs differs in form, function and motivation. Why they play with us is different to why they play with other, and how. This study investigated, compared, and considered, the behaviours/communication which humans exhibit towards their dogs, and those exhibited by dogs towards their humans, during “play, petting and hugging behaviours”. Video-sharing platforms facilitate studying human-dog hugging, petting, and playing behaviour and comparing dogs' non-verbal communication with the comments “like/dislike clicks” of viewers.
Play is believed to form a part of behavioural ontogeny (Bekoff and Byers, 1981) and appears to be essential to the development of many young animals. Function may differ dependent on species/age/sex and has been shown to provide necessary exercise in young animals (Fagen and George, 1977) and to confer physiological advantages; as bones/muscle strengthen, cardiopulmonary capacity and efficient movement increase (Bekoff and Allen, 1998). During play, animals engage motor patterns that may be used in other contexts, such as, predatory/defensive/agonistic/courting/mating behaviour (Landsberg and Denenberg, 2014), developing motor-skills, enhancing problem-solving skills, building social cohesion, co-operation, interactive use of motor and perceptual skills; hypothesised as learning or practising skills requisite for adult survival. Play may be modified by learning experience involving both inter/intra species (Bekoff and Byers, 1981). Normal motor patterns will develop within young animals without play; however, play enhances skill and proficiency.
This study showed...
The current study was conducted on google, investigating media sharing platforms. Study (1) “play” reviewed the 30 most popular videos, and studies (2) “hugging” and (3) “petting”, reviewed the 80 most popular videos on media platforms.
Our results showed that many human behaviours may be concerning as humans tend not to necessarily understand the body language or vocalizations shown by dogs, when interacting with them.
A high number of stress behaviours were observed in the dogs involved which may have occurred due to misunderstanding of the information a dog is communicating during human-dog play, petting and hugging behaviour. This can cause feelings of discomfort, anxiety, fear, distress, and confusion in a dog, which may result in a fractured human/dog bond, welfare issues for the dog, and the possibility of a dog escalating to exhibit defensive/agonistic behaviour should communication fail.
The high prevalence of videos in which stress-related behaviours were identified was concerning, although the expression of a specific behaviour may sometimes depend on the kind of interaction and/or other characteristics of the dyad engaging in it.
Key Conclusions
- Human-dog communication may lack clarity and understanding for both species.
- Human-dog hugging/petting/playing behaviour can effect canine ontogeny negatively.
- Online video showed high incidence of stress and agonistic behaviour in dogs.
- Targeted dog behavioural education for children/adults is vital to prevent dog bite.
- Education can improve dog and human welfare creating stable enduring human-dog bonds.
Advocacy for increased education for both adults and children in canine communication, context and in co-operative ways of respecting agency in human-dog interactions is necessary.