Dogs may use blinking as a subtle social signal

Dogs may utilize blinking as a subtle social signal, according to new research published in the journal Royal Society Open Science. The study, conducted at the University of Parma in Italy, found that dogs blinked more often when they observed their owners blinking compared to when they saw strangers or unfamiliar humans blinking.

Previous studies had shown that dogs blinked more when watching videos of other dogs blinking and when interacting with their owners, but these studies were more complex and difficult to isolate blinking from other factors. In this study, researchers specifically tested dog responses to videos of humans without any spoken words, body movements, or physical barriers.

Thirty-five dogs were shown two 40-second clips of three people each: their owner, an unfamiliar man, and an unfamiliar woman, with the owners blinking once every three seconds in one video and the three humans looking straight ahead without blinking in the other. The results revealed that dogs exhibited a higher blink rate when exposed to human blinking videos compared to control videos where humans did not blink.

Familiarity appeared to be a significant factor, with dogs blinking more frequently when looking at their owners than at strangers, especially when observing their female owners. However, the dogs did not blink more synchronously with the humans' blinks within the first 1.5 seconds, suggesting that the increased blinking may reflect heightened attention, automatic mimicry, or broader social processes rather than direct imitation.

The study's authors propose that blinking may play a role in dogs' behavioral repertoire in social contexts.