What dog breeds like eye contact?
Wayne Stroman
2025-06-17 18:57:45
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Dogs that are snub-nosed, young or playful, and those that have been bred to respond to visual cues, such as shepherd breeds, are the most likely to look directly into the human eye, researchers have found. Shorter-headed dogs, such as boxers, bulldogs, French bulldogs, Boston terriers and pugs, have that earnest gaze because their eyes are structured differently from those of other dogs. Puppies and playful canines were also most likely to stare into their owners' eyes. The working or herding dogs are a natural, because they are bred to "perform their tasks alongside humans," Bognár said. They are in continuous visual contact with their owner or handler. Dogs with long snouts have eyes more geared to peripheral vision; that is, seeing what is beside them, rather than what is in front of them, Bognár said.
Bethel Gleichner
2025-06-04 07:16:13
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Dogs with short snouts, like pugs, bulldogs and boxers, are better at establishing eye-contact with humans than long-nosed breeds, a study has found. The boxer, bulldog, pug, and snub-nosed dogs, in general, have a more pronounced area centralis in the retina, so they can better respond to stimuli in the central field, which may make it easier for them to form eye contact with humans. Breed also plays a role, with dogs built to work alongside humans with visual cues — like sheep dogs — quicker to lock eyes with a human than a dog which was bred for purposes which did not require human visual indicators, such as sled dogs. Dogs bred for visually guided work — like Shepherd dogs — which work in tandem with humans are among the best at making eye contact. However, breeds which were created by humans for independent work, such as sled dogs and dachshunds, are less adept at making eye-contact with a human.
Cameron Tromp
2025-06-04 07:13:28
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Akitsugu Konno and his colleagues studied 120 pet dogs in two experimental tasks to determine if certain breeds gazed at humans more or less than others. Researchers classified these breeds into five groups, based on genetic relatedness. These groups were ancient (e.g. Siberian Husky), herding (e.g. Border Collie), hound (e.g. Beagle), retriever-mastiff (e.g. Labrador Retriever), and working (e.g. German Shepherd Dog). Almost all the dogs spontaneously looked at humans during the tasks, indicating their attempt to communicate visually when trying to obtain a reward. However, during the unsolvable task, ancient breeds took longer to make eye contact with people. Plus, they looked at people for shorter periods of time than any other breed group. The researchers concluded that genetic similarity to wolves is responsible for differences in eye contact behavior, rather than human selection for certain working breeds. Alternatively, if our history of breeding for working dogs has led to greater eye contact, then certain working breeds would show an increased use of eye contact compared to all other breeds.
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