Dogs pick up on emotions the same way humans do: Study

[William Seger]

Man’s best friend may understand you as well as your actual best friend might.

Research comparing the brain function of dogs and humans found that dogs have "voice areas" in their brains located in the same region as humans. And in both species, this part of the brain is adept at understanding the subtleties between our voice tones that express our different emotions.

"Dogs and humans share a similar social environment," Attila Andics of MTA-ELTE Comparative Ethology Research Group in Hungary said in a press release. "Our findings suggest that they also use similar brain mechanisms to process social information. This may support the successfulness of vocal communication between the two species."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dogs-feel-emotion-the-same-way-humans-do-study/

This is probably not news to most dog owners.

[phantom power]

1. I would bet they're frequently better at it.

Not necessarily because our abilities are less, but because we're more often distracted by other things going on in our brains.

[William Seger]

2. My dog gets upset when the kids argue

I've learned to ignore it.

[phantom power]

3. you might like this, if you haven't read it already:

http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Dog-What-Dogs-Smell/dp/1416583432

The answers will surprise and delight you as Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist, explains how dogs perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky animal, the human. Horowitz introduces the reader to dogs’ perceptual and cognitive abilities and then draws a picture of what it might be like to be a dog. What’s it like to be able to smell not just every bit of open food in the house but also to smell sadness in humans, or even the passage of time? How does a tiny dog manage to play successfully with a Great Dane? What is it like to hear the bodily vibrations of insects or the hum of a fluorescent light? Why must a person on a bicycle be chased? What’s it like to use your mouth as a hand? In short, what is it like for a dog to experience life from two feet off the ground, amidst the smells of the sidewalk, gazing at our ankles or knees?

[pnwmom]

7. And we might be distracted by the words people say -- that contradict what the sound of their voices

and their body language might be telling us (if we were as smart as dogs).

[Skittles]

4. I pick up on microexpressions

yes indeed

[Thor_MN]

5. The same brain function tests combined with the Russian fox domestication woulld be interesting

There would probably be concrete evidence of change in brain function as the foxes became more domesticated.

[toby jo]

10. Same thoughts here. How evolutionary is this parallel?

[Rozlee]

6. Our poor doggie's gone deaf.

She's my daughter's Schipperke and is 15 years old. Since then, she hasn't had quite the same personality. She's been more subdued. Maybe it's because she's aging, but I can't help but think that such a large piece of her life has been taken away. We used to sing a song that rhymed with her name and it would make her excited and send her dancing. We can't do that now. I miss her happy dance.

[Curmudgeoness]

8. Sing the song anyways. nt

[Scuba]

9. +1

[Rozlee]

11. My daughter sang it to her earlier today.

She didn't respond to the song, but she perked up and wagged her tail to my daughter dancing and clapping to it. I guess even if she can't hear it, she still remembers our goofy gyrations to the 'Silly Lilly Song.'

[Curmudgeoness]

12. She may feel vibrations of your voice,

or like you said, know the dance. And maybe if you hug her and sing, she will feel your breathing and the air coming from your mouth. Heck, my poor cat has to live with that all the time, and he can hear just fine. Poor thing.

[KurtNYC]

13. while humans prefer vocal communications, dogs do not

so the analysis of this study is supporting the idea that we should focus our communication efforts strongly on the part that WE are good at. We have bred them to have floppy ears so we aren't exactly helping them there.

Humans can hear in the womb, dogs don't hear much until 15 days after birth. And some dogs are deaf, for life and get by just fine.

Other studies have shown that dogs interpret body language (of both humans and dogs), context and can also smell your emotions by subtle changes in your breath. Dogs are scent dominant. Humans are auditory.

Here is an experiment I try from time to time -- take your dog for a walk and say nothing at all. Walk to the door, pick up the leash, etc but don't say any of the things you might normally say and see if your dog behaves any differently. In my experience dogs aren't listening nearly as much as we might think they are. The great thing is they don't need to.