Anyone who shares or has shared their life with one or more dogs is fully aware that these animals are extremely sensitive. They easily perceive our feelings, being able to comfort us in the worst moments. All this has given rise to numerous studies on their own emotions and their way of identifying those of others.
Do dogs have emotions?
The vast majority of ethologists, veterinarians and other professional experts in these animals, strongly affirm that dogs feel emotions. We only have to observe their behavior to verify that this is true. As examples we can name fear, joy, shyness, anger and affection. And it is that although their reasoning capacity is different from ours, they can perceive and show your feelings more effectively than humans.
To express them, dogs use their body language; we just have to stay tuned to find out. Through their barking and movements show a wide variety of emotions. To translate them we must know the meaning of each of them, which, far from what it may seem at first, is broad and complex. The position of the tail, the ears, the tone and speed of the barks, are a few examples of all this.
Empathic animals
The vast majority of canine behavior specialists agree that dogs are animals extraordinarily empathetic, who perceive the constant emotional stimuli from their environment and react according to them. They are capable of capturing sensations that are imperceptible to us, becoming "infected" with our feelings. There are few cases in which anxiety or depression in some people has "intoxicated" their pets.
Likewise, as with human beings, their ability to learn, concentrate, and even their health, depends on your mood. In turn, it is strongly influenced by the emotions that the dogs perceive around them.
They understand our emotions
The relationship between animals and emotions has been a question studied by science for decades. Over the years they have been published several studies on the subject with similar conclusions. And they all agree that, to a greater or lesser extent, dogs have their own emotions and feelings.
But not only that. Experts say that these animals are capable of identifying the emotions of their own. This was demonstrated four years ago by a study carried out by a team of scientists from the Lincoln University (United Kingdom) and the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil).
To carry out this research, 17 dogs in front of images of human faces that expressed two different emotions: joy or anger. These images were accompanied by fragments of voices in pleasant or irritated tones. Well, the experts found that the animals paid more attention when the facial expressions corresponded with the tones of voice.
In the words of one of the study's authors, Kun Guo, “research shows that dogs have the ability to integrate two different sources of sensory information and to develop a consistent perception of human emotions. This cognitive ability had only been detected in humans. '
What emotions can a dog have?
It is easy to identify joy and sadness in dogs, but these animals have a much deeper inner world. Ethologists and canine educators assure that they can feel much more complex emotions like guilt, envy, or shame.
As we can see, dogs have great emotional intelligence. And therefore, we must pay special attention to their state of mind and include among their basic needs good doses of affection.