There are a variety of ways that dogs communicate emotions with each other and their humans. To understand what your dog is trying to tell you about their emotions, you just need to understand the way dogs communicate. When your dog is sitting in your lap or giving you licks, do you ever wonder if he loves you as much as you love him? Can dogs even experience the feeling of love? Read on to find out.
Dogs Experience a Wide Range of Emotions
Dogs, like humans or many other animals, have all the hormones and brain functions that produce emotions. As Psychology Today outlines, scientists have determined that dogs have the same mental and emotional capabilities as a two-year-old human, which means that they can experience a wide range of emotions including anger, fear, excitement, and love. Some even believe that dogs have a “sixth sense”.
However, they are unable to feel more complex emotions such as shame and pride. Scientists determined a dog’s emotional abilities by studying MRI scans of their brains and comparing them to humans’. As ZME Science suggests, what became strikingly obvious is that dog’s brains function very similarly to humans’. So, you are not wrong in thinking that your dog is showing you how they feel when they lick or nuzzle you.
Do Dogs Love Us or Our Food?
You may be wondering if dogs love you or love the food that you give them. Many animals are motivated by food, but we wouldn’t classify that as love. The scientist Clive Wynne from the University of Arizona, according to NPR, conducted an experiment where she monitored the brain activity of dogs when they experienced rewards.
What she found was that although food lit up the brain activity significantly, the sight of the dog’s human made this brain activity light up even more. In these experiments, most of the time, when given a choice between food and their human, dogs chose their human. This is significant because it shows that the relationship between humans and dogs goes deeper than just the need for food. It’s a bond that the dog desires more than food.
Dogs are pack animals, and as such, they need to be able to read the emotions of others in their pack. Acknowledging the feelings of their fellow dogs helps them build stronger bonds, which helps the whole family to survive. Dogs consider you as part of their pack. They not only read your emotions but also mirror and respond to them. So, if your dog has ever given you extra attention when you were feeling your lowest, it was probably because he knew how you felt and acted in kind.
How Can I Tell What My Dog Feels?
Dogs communicate their emotions through their body language. This would have been helpful for survival when it came to spotting prey or gaining a mate in the wild. They could show that they were afraid by putting their tails between their legs. They could show excitement by wagging their tails. Dogs still use this body language to communicate their emotions. They show joy and happiness to you in a variety of ways, including wiggling their bodies, licking, and smiling. If your dog does this when he sees you, he is trying to show you how happy he is that you are near, which probably means he loves you.
Your Dog’s Sounds Convey Their Emotions
Dogs also communicate through multiple types of sounds including barking, whining, growling, and howling. Each sound has its own meaning behind it. For instance, a dog howls when it is lonely and trying to find other dogs. The AKC breaks down the different tones that dogs make and how that communicates their different emotions. In general, low-pitched moans and sighs are ways that dogs tell you they are happy. These sounds are usually paired with body movements that help you to interpret this emotion including half-closed eyes. These joyful sounds are calming to you and convey love from your pet.
“Puppy Dog Eyes” Are Another Communication Method
As dogs began to become domesticated, the use of ‘puppy eyes’ helped them bond with humans. They actually evolved muscles around their eyes to create more expressions to communicate with humans. Their eyes make them look more like human infants, which prompts us to want to care for them. Dogs can raise an eyebrow, stare, or wink in certain ways to communicate their needs. Their eye communication along with their body language, use of sound, and sense of smell helps them express their emotions to humans and helps us to interpret their feelings.
Dogs Really Do Love Their Owners
If we know that dogs can feel emotions and communicate those feelings as well as humans, then it seems logical that dogs can feel love towards their owners. These feelings are usually conveyed with relaxed and joyful body language, happy sighs and low moans, and the power of puppy eyes. The bond between human and dog is truly beautiful, and after a long day at work, when you see your best friend waiting for you at the door, nothing can set off those dopamine receptors faster.
