Summary of "Today, Explained" Episode: Can We Ever Know Our Dogs?

Podcast Information:

• Title: Today, Explained
• Host/Author: Vox
• Description: Today, Explained is Vox's daily news explainer podcast. Hosts Sean Rameswaram and Noel King guide listeners through the most important stories of the day.
• Episode: Can We Ever Know Our Dogs?
• Release Date: June 29, 2025

Introduction

In the June 29, 2025 episode of Today, Explained, Vox delves into the intriguing question: Can we ever truly understand what our dogs are feeling? Hosted by Noam Hassenfeld, with contributions from Chelsea (Alexandra Horowitz) and Holly Molinaro, the episode explores the complexities of interpreting canine emotions and the human tendency to anthropomorphize our pets.

Listener Experiences: Understanding Through Connection

The episode begins with personal anecdotes from listeners who believe they have a deep understanding of their dogs' emotions.

• Jared Martin's Story (02:33): Jared, a filmmaker from LA, shares his bond with his dog, Enzo. He describes moments where he feels an almost telepathic connection, such as Enzo seemingly mouthing words or reacting with specific sounds to different needs like hunger or wanting to visit the dog park.

  "Sometimes I can just, like, look at him, or I'll kind of give him a look, you know, like, he knows what you're thinking." (03:35)

• Chelsea’s Experience (05:46): Chelsea expresses her belief in communicating effectively with her dog, Sweet Pea. She highlights the intuitive moments where she feels understood by her pet.

  "He was a Puerto Rican street dog, and from the moment I met him... Be my sole dog. I've had my dog Vixen since I was 19 years old." (05:46)

These stories illustrate the profound connections people feel with their pets, setting the stage for a deeper exploration of whether such understanding is genuinely achievable or a result of projecting human emotions onto animals.

The Challenge of Interpretation: Scientific Perspectives

Transitioning from personal anecdotes, the episode introduces Holly Molinaro, a researcher and recent PhD graduate from Arizona State University, who investigates the accuracy of human perceptions of dog emotions.

• Holly Molinaro’s Insight (09:55): Holly challenges the notion that humans can accurately read their dogs' emotions, suggesting that much of it is projection.

  "We just project our emotions onto animals and think we know what they're feeling, and that has always just, like, sat wrong for me." (09:55)

Holly's Study: "Barking up the Wrong Tree" (10:56)

Holly designed a study to test whether humans can correctly interpret dogs' emotions without contextual biases. Using videos of her dog Oliver in various scenarios, she presented participants with two sets of footage:

1. Isolated Dog Videos: Oliver filmed against a black background, focusing solely on his expressions and behaviors without any contextual cues.
2. Contextual Videos: Original videos showing interactions between Oliver and Holly's father, providing context for Oliver's emotions.

Findings:

• Isolated Videos: Participants struggled to accurately gauge Oliver's emotions, often rating his feelings as neutral regardless of the situation.
• Contextual Videos: When contextual information was present, participants reliably interpreted Oliver's emotions as happy or sad based on the scenario.

"We're just not as smart as we think we are when it comes to understanding our dogs." (14:43)

These results highlight the significant influence of human perception and context in interpreting animal emotions, suggesting that without external cues, accurately understanding a dog's feelings is challenging.

Rethinking Our Approach: Species-Specific Emotions

Holly proposes a novel approach to understanding animal emotions by moving away from human-centric interpretations.

• Holly’s Theory (15:19): Instead of mapping human emotions onto dogs, we should develop a species-specific framework that acknowledges dogs have their unique emotional experiences.

  "Maybe dogs have their own set of emotions that we humans could never even comprehend because we're not dogs." (15:22)

This perspective encourages researchers and dog owners alike to appreciate the distinct ways dogs experience the world, rather than forcing anthropomorphic labels onto their behaviors.

Expert Perspective: Taking the Dog's Point of View

Chelsea (Alexandra Horowitz), running the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College, emphasizes the importance of understanding dogs from their sensory perspective.

• Sensory Differences (18:48): Chelsea discusses how dogs prioritize smell over sight, fundamentally altering their perception of the world.

  "Smells are just information about the way the world is. Their world is wrought of smells the way ours is wrought of visual images." (21:49)

• Experiential Insights (20:35): Chelsea shares her experiment of sniffing at dog height in New York City to emulate a dog's sensory experience, revealing how odors provide a dynamic and transient understanding of space and time.

  "Time is in smell. My presence in this room really smells to my dog. When I've been gone for an hour, I'm still sort of in the room to them, but a little less." (24:44)

These insights underscore the complexity of canine perception, highlighting that our visual-dominated understanding falls short in capturing the richness of dogs' olfactory-driven experiences.

The Complexity of Understanding: Acknowledging the Unknown

Both Chelsea and Holly acknowledge the limitations in our current understanding of dog emotions.

• Chelsea’s Agnostic Stance (27:36): Despite extensive research, Chelsea admits that accurately knowing a dog's feelings remains elusive.

  "I don't really know what they're like and what their feelings are at any moment." (27:36)

• Holly’s Reflections (15:22): Holly finds delight in the mystery, appreciating that the unknown keeps the study of animal emotions exciting and open-ended.

  "There's a lot of mystery about what it's like to be a smelling creature, and we coexist and share space during the day." (26:33)

Conclusion: Embracing the Mystery

The episode concludes by reaffirming that while humans share meaningful bonds with dogs, fully comprehending canine emotions remains a complex and largely uncharted territory. The interplay between human perception and animal behavior suggests that our connections may be as much about mutual understanding as they are about projection and interpretation.

"I like that the knowledge is ever elusive. Kind of like a dog." (28:57)

Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• "We just project our emotions onto animals and think we know what they're feeling, and that has always just, like, sat wrong for me." — Holly Molinaro (09:55)
• "Sometimes I can just, like, look at him... he knows what you're thinking." — Jared Martin (03:35)
• "Maybe dogs have their own set of emotions that we humans could never even comprehend because we're not dogs." — Holly Molinaro (15:22)
• "Smells are just information about the way the world is." — Chelsea (21:49)
• "I don't think I do, and I don't know how anybody could really." — Chelsea (27:36)

This episode of Today, Explained offers a thoughtful exploration of the human-dog relationship, challenging listeners to reconsider how they interpret and understand their canine companions. By blending personal stories with scientific research, the discussion underscores the delicate balance between connection and comprehension in our interactions with dogs.