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GBThe GuardianAnimal behaviour

Dogs blink more often when they see owners blinking, study finds

Scientists say research suggests blinking may have acquired a social relevance in interactions between dogs and people Stare into a dog’s eyes and you may encounter a bemused expression. But researchers have found that dogs blink more often when they see their owners doing so, suggesting there may be more to the mutual gaze than meets the eye. Scientists have previously found that dogs turn on the puppy eyes when hum

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Ledger record
#2792
First seen
25 Aug 2026, 23:57 UTC
Last checked
26 Aug 2026, 08:59 UTC
Version history
1 version
Current fingerprint
0ec69836af66...512deb
01

Publisher layer

Recorded article metadata

Publisher
The Guardian
Country
England / United Kingdom
Source published
25 Aug 2026, 23:01 UTC
Source updated
No update timestamp supplied
Byline
Nicola Davis Science correspondent
Section
Animal behaviour
Source-supplied excerpt
Scientists say research suggests blinking may have acquired a social relevance in interactions between dogs and people Stare into a dog’s eyes and you may encounter a bemused expression. But researchers have found that dogs blink more often when they see their owners doing so, suggesting there may be more to the mutual gaze than meets the eye. Scientists have previously found that dogs turn on the puppy eyes when hum
02

Change layer

Observed version timeline

  1. 1
    Initial capture

    Dogs blink more often when they see owners blinking, study finds

    Scientists say research suggests blinking may have acquired a social relevance in interactions between dogs and people Stare into a dog’s eyes and you may encounter a bemused expression. But researchers have found that dogs blink more often when they see their owners doing so, suggesting there may be more to the mutual gaze than meets the eye. Scientists have previously found that dogs turn on the puppy eyes when hum

    Changed fieldstitlebylinedescriptionTextcontentTextsourcePublishedAtsourceUpdatedAtsectionimageUrltags
    Version SHA-256
    0ec69836af66...512deb
    Capture SHA-256
    f624e883e9a7...a43420
03

Interpretation layer

Labels with declared origins

Not an adjudication.

Publisher categories are copied from source metadata. Machine signals report observable wording or format and do not determine truth, intent, ethics, or wrongdoing.

  • machine content-type Reported news observable-rules-v1 / 70% rule confidence
  • publisher category Animal behaviour rss-category
  • publisher category Animals rss-category
  • publisher category Dogs rss-category
  • publisher category Pets rss-category
  • publisher category Science rss-category
  • publisher category World news rss-category
04

Public response layer

Reception snapshots

No reviewed reception capture yet.

Comment counts and samples remain absent until a lawful, source-specific capture method is reviewed. Absence is recorded instead of estimated.

05

Evidence layer

Capture provenance

Capture ID
#2556
Observed
25 Aug 2026, 23:57 UTC
HTTP result
200 / parsed
Raw payload
478,706 bytes, private gzip evidence
Collector
news-ledger/0.1
Public boundary
metadata and excerpt