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By: Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer Published: 06/08/2012 10:04 AM EDT on LiveScience Plenty of pet owners are comforted by a pair of puppy-dog eyes or aswipe of the tongue when their dog catches them crying. Now, newresearch suggests that dogs really do respond uniquely to tears.But whether pets have empathy for human pain is less clear. In a study published online May 30 in the journal Animal Cognition,University of London researchers found that dogs were more likelyto approach a crying person than someone who was humming ortalking, and that they normally responded to weeping withsubmissive behaviors. The results are what you might expect if dogs understand our pain , the researchers wrote, but it's not proof that they do. "The humming was designed to be a relatively novel behavior,which might be likely to pique the dogs' curiosity," studyresearcher and psychologist Deborah Custance said in a statement."The fact that the dogs differentiated between crying andhumming indicates that their response to crying was not purelydriven by curiosity. Rather, the crying carried greater emotionalmeaning for the dogs and provoked a stronger overall response thaneither humming or talking." Humans domesticated dogs at least 15,000 years ago, and many a petowner has a tale of their canine offering comfort in tough times.Studies have shown that dogs are experts at human communication , but scientists haven't been able to show conclusively that dogs feel empathy or truly understand the pain of others. In one 2006 study,researchers had owners fake heart attacks or pretend to be pinnedbeneath furniture, and learned that pet dogs failed to go for help(so much for Lassie saving Timmy from the well). But seeking out assistance is a complex task, and Custance and hercolleague Jennifer Mayer wanted to keep it simple. They recruited18 pet dogs and their owners to test whether dogs would respond tocrying with empathetic behaviors. The dogs included a mix of mutts,Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers and a few other commonbreeds. [ What Your Dog's Breed Says About You ] The experiment took place in the owners' living rooms. Mayer wouldarrive and ignore the dog so that it would have little interest inher. Then she and the owner would take turns talking, fake-cryingand humming. Of the 18 dogs in the study, 15 approached their owner or Mayerduring crying fits, while only six approached during humming. Thatsuggests that it's emotional content, not curiosity, that bringsthe dogs running. Likewise, the dogs always approached the cryingperson, never the quiet person, as one might expect if the dog wasseeking (rather than trying to provide) comfort. "The dogs approached whoever was crying regardless of theiridentity. Thus they were responding to the person's emotion, nottheir own needs, which is suggestive of empathic-likecomfort-offering behavior," Mayer said in a statement. Of the 15 dogs that approached a crying owner or stranger, 13 didso with submissive body language, such as tucked tails and bowedheads, another behavior consistent with empathy (the other two werealert or playful). Still, the researchers aren't dog whisperers,and they can't prove conclusively what the dogs were thinking . It's possible that dogs learn to approach crying people becausetheir owners give them affection when they do, the researcherswrote. "We in no way claim that the present study provides definitiveanswers to the question of empathy in dogs," Mayer andCustance wrote. Nevertheless, they said, their experiment opens thedoor for more study of dogs' emotional lives , from whether different breeds respond to emotional ownersdifferently to whether dogs understand the difference betweenlaughter and tears. Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas or LiveScience @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+ . 10 Things You Didn't Know About Dogs The 10 Most Popular Dog Breeds 7 Surprising Benefits of Owning a Dog Copyright 2012 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewrittenor redistributed. Also on HuffPost:. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Network Video Recorder NVR Manufacturer , PTZ IP Cameras for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits IR IP Cameras.
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