We should smile at our dogs – a new scientific study reveals why

A new scientific study has revealed why we should smile at our dogs, as the animals are able to detect and respond positively to human emotions, particularly happiness. Researchers Laura Cuaya and Raúl Hernández-Pérez, partners in canine cognition research, scanned the brains of 14 dogs while they viewed photographs of human faces displaying various expressions.

When the dogs observed smiling faces, the reward circuitry in their brains became active – the same region that is stimulated by positive experiences like food or praise in humans. This suggests that dogs view happy faces, even those of strangers, as having a positive value. The study also found that dogs can differentiate between positive and negative emotions, but they fail to distinguish between different types of negative emotions.

The researchers, who are also dog owners and have used their own border collie dogs in previous studies, believe that thousands of years of cohabitation with humans have shaped the dogs' brain circuitry to understand and respond to human emotions. Cuaya and Hernández-Pérez hope their findings will encourage humans to communicate more effectively with their dogs by smiling and expressing happiness towards them.