Karen London, PhD, updates information on how dogs process and respond to our emotions. Previous studies showed that dogs use different sides of the brain to process information, depending on the emotions involved. As we develop and advance Fear Free initiatives, this information can help evaluate how we interact with dogs.
Source: The Bark, February 2018.
Generally-speaking, stimuli associated with positive emotions are processed in the left side of the brain while those with negative emotions are processed in the right side of the brain. Dogs consistently turned to the left in response to sounds that conveyed fear and sadness, and the same was true for anger but to a lesser extent. Dogs consistently turned to the right in response to vocalizations conveying happiness. The final two emotions—surprise and disgust—did not show a significant pattern.