Perhaps you have discovered that your dog has started barking for no reason. It may not be the first time you read that dogs can see the good or bad intentions of people, and various studies confirm this.
These scientific studies investigated the ability of dogs to detect untrustworthy or suspicious people. One of the most important studies in this area was carried out by Kyoto University in Japan, where researchers found that dogs can distinguish human facial expressions with negative emotions, such as anger or fear.
In addition, there are studies that suggest that dogs can detect subtle changes in body language and olfactory signals that humans emit when they are nervous or have bad intentions. These studies suggest that dogs can be trained to identify and flag suspicious or alert people, which can be useful in situations such as drug detection, public safety, or assisting the visually impaired.
Another study published in the journal Animal Cognition in 2014 found that dogs were able to distinguish between humans who behaved hostilely towards their owner and their people. In the experiment, the owners of the dogs pretended to have difficulty opening a container, while the player in the experiment came to help or hinder the task. Dogs preferred those who helped their owners.
A study published in the journal Applied Animal Science in 2016 investigated the ability of dogs to detect changes in body language and facial expressions. The results suggested that dogs can use this information to identify people who are showing signs of nervousness or fear, which may be a sign that they are not trustworthy.
