Recent research by Dr. Marshall-Pescini, at the university of Milan showed very similar actions and behaviors between dogs and young human children. Psychologists call this “Social Referencing” which involves trying to use another person’s perceptions and interpretation of a situation to help understand the situation better and to guide the observer’s future behaviors. Social referencing allows our children to avoid making costly mistakes which they may make if they blundered through a situation by trial and error.
Social referencing involves two distinct components: the first involves the child or dog looking directly at the person of authority (parent/owner), and then looking back at an object or situation of concern – and repeating this process of looking at face then situation, then face then situation … so on and so forth, as an important communication signal which is intended to get the person of authority to focus on the situation that is of concern.
The second component of social referencing involves the reading of the behaviors and emotional responses of the person of authority in order to use this as a guide for the dog/child.
Therefore, when a dog encounters a new situation or is unsure about something, they tend to look back and forth between the object/situation and the owner’s face in an attempt to draw attention to the object/situation; and then they will try to observe the owner’s positive or negative emotional reaction and sue this as a guide for what to do next.
When a dog encounters a new or stressful situation, they almost always use social referencing to decipher it and to determine what to do about it. The dog will alternate looking at their owner’s face and the situation, and then judging by the vocal positive or negative emotional response of the owner decide how to react. The research found that negative emotional responses from the owner caused dogs to freeze and adopt an avoidance behavior. This was further exaggerated if the owner’s negative behavior involved visible physical display of fear or displeasure. However, positive emotional reactions of an owner do not change a dogs overall behavior, where the dog having received reassurance that the situation or object poses no danger simply carried on doing what they were doing beforehand.
Dog owners who display calm and reassuring emotions and behaviors tend to transmit such emotions to their pets, while owners who are hyper, anxious, or fearful tend to end up with pets that lack confidence, are fearful, and/or nervous. The face and gestures we use are not the only sources of clues which our dogs use to receive feedback about a situation, dogs are attune to the slightest change in our behavior including the slightest tightening of our hold on the leash, the slightest pull, or the change of our pace as we approach an object or situation.
Cesar Millan, the famous dog behaviorist, calls this “calm assertive” owner behavior, that will usually translate into a “calm submissive” behavior in their dogs. So by understanding dog behavior you will be able to raise and train a calm and happy dog.
If you’re ever unsure and need help then contact a professional dog behaviorist and trainer who can advise the cause of your dog’s unwanted behavior and what you can do to correct it.