Just like humans, dogs too can be pessimistic‎--study

These dogs are more likely to suffer from distress and anxiety and they can show their displeasure by barking continuously, destroying furniture, etc.

The lead-author professor Michael Mendl, a research fellow in the department of clinical veterinary science at the University of Bristol UK, explained, "We all have a tendency to think that our pets and other animals experience emotions similar to our own.

"What our study has shown is that this applies to dogs, that a glass-half-full dog is less likely to be anxious when left alone than one with a more pessimistic nature."

Another researcher Emily Blackwell, an animal behaviorist at the same University added that many owners end up thinking that their “dog is trying to get revenge by chewing up their slippers -- they don’t understand the dog is anxious.”

From 10 million pet dogs in the UK, at least half have the tendency to show separation anxiety at some stage.

Study details
Mendl with his team analyzed the behavior of 24 dogs at dog rehomes in UK. Half of the dogs were male of various breeds between the ages of nine months to 9-years-old.

To study the behavior, the researchers in turns took each dog to a room, where they spent 20 minutes playing with the animal.

Researcher Emily Blackwell, an animal behaviorist at the same University added that many owners end up thinking that their “dog is trying to get revenge by chewing up their slippers -- they don’t understand the dog is anxious.”

The next day, they again took the dogs to a room but this time left dog alone there for five minutes. All this while they recorded dog’s behavior, looking for anxiety signs such as jumping up and down on furniture in the room, barking without any cause or scratching the door.

Then researchers taught the dogs to expect a bowl full of food placed at a specific corner. When the bowl was placed in another corner, it was empty.

After some time, researchers started moving the bowl all around the room and noticed dog’s behavior as they have had no clue whether it will contain food or would be empty.

Dogs that ran enthusiastically towards the ambiguous bowl were labeled “optimistic” while those who slowed down after few attempts were labeled “pessimists.”

Seek expert intervention
Study researchers believe that if one’s dog is engaging in all kinds of destructive behavior such as destroying household items or urinating inside the house despite being taught not to do so when left alone, then it’s time to seek expert help.

"Dogs are very popular pets in the U.S.A. and Europe. Not only are there a lot of them, but they live very closely with people and are dependent on us for their care and welfare. It's also important to understand them to reduce public health risks associated with dog behavior,” concluded Mendl.

The study findings appeared in the Oct. 12 issue of journal 'Current Biology.'