Barking scientists working on dog to human translation

Hungarian scientists are working on computer software analysing dog barks that could allow people to better recognize dogs' basic emotions, Hungarian ethologist Csaba Molnar says.

It is not clear why this is a good thing.

Molnar and his colleagues at Budapest's ELTE University say they have tested software which distinguishes the emotional reaction of 14 dogs of the Hungarian Mudi herding breed to six situations: When the dog is alone, when it sees a ball, it fights, it plays, it encounters a stranger or it goes for a walk.