Current Studies
​All of our studies are a part of a greater interest we have in understanding the umwelt of dogs.

Fall 2025 study: Olfactory pointing

Dogs can use visual cues from humans to find a hidden treat. If a person is in the room but not providing visual cues, do dogs use informational odor cues to find the hidden treat?

Recent Studies

Smell of emotions

Dogs display their emotional state in their posture; do they also display it in their odor? And can other dogs smell the difference between a stressed dog and a happy one? We aimed to determine if dogs discriminate these odors, and, too, if they are affected by them, becoming more stressed when smelling stress, and more relaxed when smelling "joy."

​Social function of shaking behavior

We have all seen dogs shake off in contexts beyond being physically wet. By observing natural rapid oscillatory behaviors of dogs in social contexts (dog parks and doggy daycares), we aim to identify patterns in dog-dog and dog-human social behaviors surrounding body- and head-shaking episodes. Update: results published! Read them here.

Vertical navigation

Dogs, like humans and other land-based mammals, are not highly skilled at vertical navigation. We take advantage of the ubiquity of apartment buildings in New York City to examine whether dogs living in those buildings can learn to distinguish which floor they are though using novel landmarks. Update: results published! Read them here.