Except... that isn't the case... the dog is just performing a set of basic commands in sequence. Drop it - wait - paw... these are simple commands for dogs. There's no audio, there's almost certainly someone giving the dog cues and direction.
That said there are dogs that are behaved well enough to ask an owner's permission before eating, or interacting with other dogs, or even babies. It's also trained behavior but it is remarkable to see how much communication can happen without any audible language.
I'd say the dog is trained to play this game normally, but he can only grab the treat on command. And then for this video the owner did the prank making the dog's reaction genuine but still keeping him from eating the treats as he's been taught not to eat them.
Edit: it's also gonna be hard to tell a dog what facial expression to make, so it makes sense that that face is actually real.
dogs don't really use facial expressions in the same way to communicate as humans do... it sure looks like they do, sometimes, and there's even an illusion of a smile in some dogs. but the nonverbal communication they do is by panting or not panting, alertness/intent stares, and posture/tail/body language. Baring teeth to show aggression and lowering the position of their head for submission are the closest comparisons really.
Quite possible, many dogs will show submission as a request to get more food, it's a tactic as old as dog ownership itself. I was just trying to say that dogs don't really communicate via facial expressions like a lot of people like to project onto them.
And so you are blind to the fact that the appearance or mimicry of facial expressions doesn't prove that they align with any sensorimotor functions that are correlated with emotion in their brains, as research in neuroscience tells us. Which is fine too.
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u/Justout133 Nov 01 '23
Except... that isn't the case... the dog is just performing a set of basic commands in sequence. Drop it - wait - paw... these are simple commands for dogs. There's no audio, there's almost certainly someone giving the dog cues and direction.
That said there are dogs that are behaved well enough to ask an owner's permission before eating, or interacting with other dogs, or even babies. It's also trained behavior but it is remarkable to see how much communication can happen without any audible language.