Dog and You

Dog and You...

Any dog lover will tell you that dogs have a sixth sense when it comes to understanding human emotional needs.

When you are feeling down, a dog can often act as a better confidant than another human.

They also listen better, respond appropriately to your emotions, and seem to genuinely care about your feelings. What gives?

It should come as no surprise that dogs are capable of intense feelings. They are highly social, pack animals with strong emotional connections to other dogs. They have their own social structures and bonding rituals, many of which mirror human social structures.

The same emotional connections that dogs experience in packs can transfer easily to any group setting, including cross-species situations. To your dog, you are family. It is as simple as that.

Of course, there are many other fascinating things that your dog understands about you that you may not be aware of. Sometimes their abilities can be downright spooky, but there are strong scientific explanations for your dog’s behaviors. Understanding how your dog perceives you can help you relate better to your pet.

Here is a look at 15 things your dog can sense about you along with some insight into how dogs do these things and what it all means.

1. Dogs Know When You Are Sad

When you feel sad, your dog will immediately pick up on this and adjust his behavior accordingly. He may become more subdued than usual, lose interest in his toys and even refuse his food.

Usually, your dog will quietly observe you from a corner of the room. After a while, he may come over and lie down at your feet or gently rest his head in your lap. Many dogs will even try to lick away tears as they fall. A dog’s master is the center of his entire world, so sensing your feelings of sadness will have an effect on him too.

In a study published in the journal “Animal Cognition,” researchers found that a dog was more likely to approach someone who was crying than someone who was humming or talking. Furthermore, they found that dogs respond to weeping with submissive behavior.

In other words, dogs seem to be trying to placate a person who is upset. What is more, dogs will approach anyone who is upset the same way, regardless of whether that person is their owner or not.

The scientists insist that this study does not prove that dogs experience empathy, but it certainly goes a long way to supporting the claim. It also clearly indicates that dogs can identify sadness as an emotion that is different from other feelings.

2. Dogs Can Sense Your Intentions

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We’ve all experienced a dog’s almost psychic ability to sense when something unpleasant is about to take place.

Even before you turn on the shower or touch his towel, your dog knows you intend to give him a bath and will immediately run for cover. The same goes for haircuts, nail trims and administering medicine.

On the other side, your dog will also understand if your intentions are pure and you are performing the task for his own good.

Most dogs will submit to unpleasant experiences, such as nail trims, if their owner is close by to offer some reassuring words and gentle encouragement.

At least one study has shown that dogs read intentions by reading behavior. A 2011 study published in “Learning & Behavior” found that domestic dogs are roughly as intelligent as a 2-year-old human. That means that they are capable of understanding the meaning of roughly 165 words and that they can make sense of body language.

It turns out that dogs use eye contact and gaze to figure out what people are thinking. Just as a mentalist will follow your gaze to determine what is on your mind that you don’t want him to know, so too will dogs follow your gaze to get a read on what you are thinking.

So, when you look at the bathtub while calling your dog, he knows you are thinking of cleaning off the dead skunk he worked so hard to grind into his fur.

3. Dogs can Sense Any Diseases You May Have

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If your dog has been paying particular attention to a certain area of your body, you may want to visit your doctor to make sure everything is okay.

Various studies have confirmed that dogs have the ability to detect certain diseases such as cancer through their keen sense of smell.

Some dogs can even be trained to warn epilepsy sufferers when they are about to have a seizure.

There are many different training centers opening in various parts of the world that are dedicated to training dogs to detect the subtle chemical changes in the human body that signal disease.

A dog’s ability to sense disease comes down to an ability to detect chemicals known as volatile organic compounds or VOCs. VOCs are what allows us to sense odor and though some are toxic, the term generally applies to any chemical that can get into your nose because it is a gas. While humans can detect certain potent VOCs, our limited sense of smell is no match for what dogs can do.

Depending on the breed, a dog’s sense of smell can be anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 times stronger than a human’s. That means that a dog can pick up a scent that is up to 100,000 times weaker than any scent a human can detect.

If you translate that into terms we understand, like vision, it means that while a human can see roughly 1/3 of a mile, a dog could see just as well at a distance of 3,000 miles if his eyesight were as good, relative to our own, as his nose is! Put another way, a dog can detect a teaspoon of sugar in a million gallons of water.

4. Dogs Understand When You Feel Scared

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If you feel scared, your dog will know about it in an instant. A dog’s sensitive nose can pick up on subtle scents, such as adrenalin, that he associates with fear and danger.

If you have a Rottweiler or Doberman, then your burly protector will most likely spring into action and come to your rescue.

Smaller dogs, or those with nervous temperaments, will follow your lead and start to feel scared themselves.

Your dog will always look to you for guidance on how to react in certain situations, so if you want your dog to be brave you will have to lead by example.

Fear is an emotion shared by a large number of animals, dogs included. While it is true that dogs can “smell” fear, it is also true that they intuitively understand the body language associated with it.

Dogs, like humans, have a customary reaction to fear. Their hair stands up, their pupils dilate, their lips curl, and their stance changes. When they associate their fear posturing with human fear posturing, they gain an understanding of what humans look like when they are afraid. Combine this with their awesome sense of smell and it’s no wonder that dogs can so easily detect fear.

5. Dogs Know When You Are Being Unfair

Your dog will immediately understand if you are playing favorites.

A study performed in Austria tested what would happen if one dog was rewarded for performing a trick while another was not given anything for completing the same task.

The dogs that did not receive a reward became agitated at the sight of their peers receiving treats. They responded by scratching and licking themselves with impatience. In other words, they recognized the unfairness of the situation.

Notably, the dogs that took part in the study were unable to differentiate between the sizes of the rewards. If one dog received a sausage while another received bread, both dogs were more than happy with their prize. Remember, dogs are roughly as intelligent as a 2-year-old child.

Many animals have a sense of justice. Chimps, for instance, have a very strong sense of right and wrong and even take pleasure in punishing those who break the rules. Dogs have their own sense of fairness and it results from their social structure.

One reason that dogs understand fairness arises out of their roots as wolves. Researchers have found that, because wolves must coordinate as a pack to hunt, they depend upon rules of fairness to survive.

A wolf that doesn’t pull his weight won’t be allowed to partake in the rewards of a hunt. By the same token, a wolf that works hard to bring down an elk isn’t going to respond well to being denied a piece of the prize.

Treat your dog the way you would want to be treated. Human and canine justice both come down to that simple golden rule.