What Happens When You Stare at a Dog
Dogs will likely move away from a threat. If they catch someone staring at them, they’ll try to disengage from the person staring. Some dogs will:
If this happens, the person unintentionally staring at the dog should turn sideways and look away from the worried dog. Intimidation teaches a dog that a person is unpredictable and scary. It’s tough learning from someone who’s intimidating, and it’s unfair to force a dog to learn this way. Remember, staring is considered rude in both the human and canine world.
Eye contact before playing is one of only a few examples of dogs locking eyes for a positive reason. Other times, staring and prolonged eye contact is perceived as a threat. Dominant dogs tend to stare down other dogs as a way to assert their higher social status, and a dog that stares back is usually doing it as a challenge. Wag! says,
Whenever you come across an unfamiliar dog, whether it’s a stray or a dog you’re thinking about adopting, keep your gaze away from their face. Look at their ears or their chest and approach them at a diagonal. You want to show them you’re a friend and not a threat, and to do that, you need to speak their body language.
As domesticated animals, dogs have adapted to life with humans. They’ve learned what we like and what we don’t like, and even though they’re not naturally comfortable with eye contact, some are willing to make exceptions for the people they love. They’ve figured out that locking eyes with a particular person might trigger something pleasant, like a treat, praise, or a satisfying scratch behind the ears. Some dog owners train for this behavior, but dogs are also capable of picking it up all on their own.
A study done in 1980 found that students learn better and retain more information when their teachers make eye contact during their lectures. Babies seek out attention from people who look directly at them, and a budding romance usually starts with one person making eye contact with another. There will always be exceptions, like introverted people who prefer not to be noticed, but in general, eye contact between humans is a good thing.
Human or canine, eye contact is a big part of communication. Eyes convey emotion, indicate intent, and they reflect individual personality in ways many people don’t realize. There’s a lot that’s the same when it comes to human and canine eyes—you and your pup can even share the same eye color—but the way dogs understand eye contact will always be slightly different than what seems normal for humans. Understanding how your dog feels about eye contact is important for your relationship, and it’ll help you better communicate with every dog you meet.
Do dogs like to look you in the eyes?
Your dog does like you to look into their eyes in certain circumstances. According to a study, it can actually be a good thing (here’s the 2016 study).
The key difference though is between staring and eye contact.
To give you an example, when two dogs meet in a park, they will rarely make sustained eye contact. Unlike us humans, eye contact is not considered a positive thing. The only time that dog will tend to lock eyes is for the temporary moment when play is just about to start.
You’ve probably seen it; if they are both up for the game, the play bow between the two will happen first. They will then make eye contact for a few seconds, which I assume is a form of reciprocation, and then take off and play.
On the other hand, if two dogs meet in a park and lock eyes and stare each other down, it’s a sign of aggression and means potential trouble is brewing.
And this is all you need to understand; dog eye contact or staring is all context based.
So, if you look a dog in the eyes and don’t offer any other visual or verbal clues as to how you’re feeling, it could scare the dog and provoke a negative response.
This is why it’s bad to stare a dog in the eyes, particularly one that you don’t know. Strange dogs don’t have any prior trust in you and don’t know what your intentions are. If the dog looks skittish and on edge, prolonged and direct eye contact is bad and should be avoided.
A misconception around dog-human eye contact is its correlation with dominance and power dynamics between yourself and your pet. The truth is, there isn’t really any such thing as dominance between a dog and an owner.
Whilst a lot of owners (and some trainers) swear by staring at their dog to assert dominance, the fact is that this is nothing more than a myth.
In fact, the trainer who originally championed this ‘training’ method has since admitted that the link between staring and dominance is tenuous, to say the least.
This is Why You Shouldn’t Stare in a Dog’s Eye
It can be bad to stare a dog in the eyes as it can scare them and be perceived as a threat. However, scientists have discovered that making eye contact with your own dog can strengthen the bond between owner and canine.