Dog Laughter

This passage describes the way dogs "laugh."

Lexile Level: 500L

Categories: Animals & Nature

Animal researchers are listening closely to dogs. A new study suggests that dogs laugh. Patricia Simonet works with dogs. She recorded lots of dog sounds. She studied how dogs reacted to the different sounds. She says that dogs huff. A huff is a long, loud pant. Dogs huff when they want to play. They also huff when they play with toys. When dogs hear huffing, they feel invited to play. They're not scared like when they hear growls or whines. They like the huff sound. To prove this, Patricia took a recording of the huff sound to an animal shelter. The shelter was very noisy. Dogs were barking constantly. When she played the huff sound, the dogs became quiet. They reacted positively to the huffing. When she played other sounds, the dogs continued to bark. They didn't react positively. Dogs clearly identify huffing as special. It just may be a dog's way of laughing.