Dogs Don't Always Look on the Bright Side [VIDEO]

Dogs are always seemingly always happy, smiling with their tongue hanging out, tail wagging, but this gives a false impression of a dog's true outlook on life. New research shows that dogs can be pessimists, not always looking on the bright side.

In fact, some dogs are distinctly more pessimistic than others, according to a study described in the journal PLOS ONE.

"This research is exciting because it measures positive and negative emotional states in dogs objectively and non-invasively. It offers researchers and dog owners an insight into the outlook of dogs and how that changes," Dr. Melissa Starling from the Faculty of Veterinary Science, and the study's lead author, said in a statement.

According to Starling and her colleagues, a dog is characterized as optimistic if it expects more good than bad things to happen, and takes risks with the hope of being rewarded. And these happy-go-lucky canines are persistent, trying and trying again when things don't go their way because they think eventually it will pay off.

On the other hand, pessimistic dogs don't look on the bright side. Instead, they are more fragile and cautious, afraid to put themselves out there because they think it won't turn out good.

"Pessimistic dogs appeared to be much more stressed by failing a task than optimistic dogs. They would whine and pace and avoid repeating the task while the optimistic dogs would appear unfazed and continue," Starling explained.

If your dog seems to give up easy, don't worry. He's not necessarily unhappy, but just could use some encouragement.

In the study, researchers from the University of Sydney taught dogs to associate two different sounds with either the preferred reward of milk or instead the same amount of water.

Once they learned the name of the game, the dogs were presented with ambiguous tones. If they responded, it means they expect a reward, and are therefore optimistic. Most of the dogs appeared to be positive thinkers, but Starling notes that that does not necessarily translate to dog populations as a whole.

This research not only gives us a glimpse into the life of a dog, but can also be helpful in a practical sense.

"Finding out as accurately as possible whether a particular dog is optimistic or pessimistic is particularly helpful in the context of working and service dogs and has important implications for animal welfare," Starling added.

[Credit: The University of Sydney]