개의 ‘윙크’?…반려인 눈 깜빡이면, 개는 더 자주 눈 깜빡인다

Recent research indicates that dogs exhibit a more frequent blinking when they notice a familiar human, particularly their owner, as compared to a stranger. This discovery was made by a team of researchers led by Dr. Tiziana Canario of Parma University in Italy. The study, published in the Royal Society Open Science journal on November 26th, explored how a dog's blinking behavior changes when responding to human faces.

The team observed 35 dogs, 17 female and 18 male, as they were shown two types of videos. One featured their owner and a stranger blinking every three seconds, while the other displayed the same individuals staring at the camera without blinking. Each video was 40 seconds long, and the researchers noted that the dogs blinked more frequently when the person blinking was their owner.

The effect was even stronger when the owner was a female, suggesting that dogs may respond more strongly to female human faces. However, this response did not occur when encountering a stranger. The researchers believe that this finding demonstrates that a dog's blinking may convey more than just a simple, automatic action; it may also carry social significance.

Dr. Canario explained that the study suggests dogs are sensitive to the blinking behavior of other individuals and may adjust their own blinking based on who they are interacting with.