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How dogs recognize their owners (and their moods)

[media-credit name=”Denver Post file photo” align=”alignright” width=”495″]Dog looking[/media-credit]

Winston looks into the face of his owner, Kathleen O'DeKirk. Gazing at faces is how dogs pick out their owner, research shows.

Dogs can read a lot from a human’s face, according to recent research.

For one thing, they rely on seeing a face to tell whether a person is their guardian or a stranger.

They also read emotional cues on a face the same way people do with each other.

(And you thought Fido was just trying to lick your nose when he got so close!)

A study written up in Animal Behaviour described how dogs had difficultly recognizing their human “best friend” when the person had their face covered, according to a BBC News story on the research.

The hounds much prefer to gaze at and follow their owners, rather than a stranger, the study showed.
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