Dogs have last laugh
A new report from American pet psychologists say they have evidence that dogs have their own sense of humour
A team of American psychologists has carried out research, which they say shows dogs do laugh.
Patricia Simonet told a meeting of the American Animal Behavior Society that dogs usually make their “laugh-pant” noise when they meet other dogs.
For her study, Patricia took a microphone into parks to record the excited noise dogs make when whey meet each other.
She then played tapes of the broad-frequency pants to 15 other dogs – mostly puppies – in an observation room. The puppies responded by picking up a toy or trotting towards a potential playmate.
When she tried to mimic the pant herself the dogs flocked to her. They did not respond when she broadcast growls.
Translating barks
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In another development, Japanese scientists have come up with a gadget, which they claim is able to translate barks, growls and whines into common human emotions, such as frustration, menace, hunger, joy and sorrow.
The Bow-lingual – on sale in Japan next year for £60 – consists of a 2in microphone that is attached to the dog’s collar andtransmits sounds to a palm-sized console held by the animal’s owner. The console has a display that uses a 200-word vocabulary.
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