News release

From: The Royal Society

Blinking together: the modulation of eye-blinking in dog-human social contexts

In dogs, eye-blinking has been suggested to have not only a physiological function but also a social role in intra- and interspecific contexts. We investigated whether dogs’ eye-blinking is modulated by the identity of the human partner and the nature of the stimulus. Results revealed dogs exhibited significantly higher blink-rates in the BLINK condition compared to the CONTROL. Furthermore, blink rates were socially modulated and significantly higher towards owners than unfamiliar humans. However, no blink synchronization was found. These findings suggest that eye-blinking rates in dogs can be modulated by the blinking behaviour and the social relevance of human partners.

Flutter pups - Your dog may be communicating with you through blinking. Researchers studied dogs reacting to videos of humans blinking or keeping a still face. The dogs increased their blinking in response to videos where their owners where blinking, but not unfamiliar humans. The effect was even greater towards female owners. While researchers are not sure what the exact communicative function of the blinking is, the results show that it may play a role in dogs’ social behaviours.