Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

So the other day while i was walking my dog i got the craziest idea " what if my dog could know how i feel or maybe he knows what im thinking" . So i have decided to try to make my expirement based on that. I want to find out if a dog can read your emotions by either your energy, odor, heart rate, or any other cool thing i will find in my research. Can anyone give me ideas where to start from ? THANK YOU

Hi thatcoolguy26,

What a fun idea! I'm not sure if you can really tell exactly what your dog is thinking, but here are some projects involving dog behavior that might give you some ideas.
Measuring dog IQ: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p012.shtml
Examining a dog's smell preferences: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p015.shtml
Finding out a dog's favorite toy: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p016.shtml

Although these are not exactly what you were asking, you could use the information and procedures in these projects to design an experiment that might answer your question. Perhaps you can see if your dog prefers the scent of a tennis ball you held when you were very happy compared to a tennis ball you held when you were very angry. Alternatively, you could see if your dog prefers something that smells like you (like your unwashed t-shirt) compared to something that smells like a stranger.

I hope these ideas help you get started. Please post back here if you have more questions.

Heather