In the course of writing articles about cats and dogs, I have been asked many times: “Do our pets have emotions?” My answer to that is a resounding yes.
In the “old days” it was thought that animals had no emotions or any feelings whatsoever, however science has now proven, what pet owners knew all along, that our pets do have emotions.
It has been said that our dogs are happy to see us because it means one of two things, you will eventually give them a treat or once you get home from work, dinner can’t be too far away. Everyone knows that dogs love to eat.
After many decades of work, scientists who have spent time delving into neuroscientific research now understand that dogs experience emotions similar to those of their owners.
Dogs experience happiness, enjoyment, affection, confusion, pride, shame, anxiety, depression, anger, surprise, and even emotions such as mistrust and resignation.
The more positive emotions a dog experiences, the better it will be at handling problem solving, coordination, and social relationships with people and other animals. While negative emotions help protect a dog from situations that can be dangerous or threatening.
Interestingly, the structure of a dog’s emotional brain is very similar to ours. Emotions in both humans and dogs are controlled by the limbic system, which is a complex part located in the center of the brain.
The limbic system is made up of several parts:
- The amygdala – a place where fear and aggression are generated.
- The hippocampus – related to memory.
- Hypohalamus – the center for controlling and stimulating the secretion of hormones throughout the body.
- Parts of the cerebral cortex – that organizes behavior and contributes to pleasure.
The endocrine system is closely linked to the limbic system and produces and releases hormones, not only to the limbic system, but also to the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for fight or flight responses.
This neurological connection generates physical responses from your dog. It makes your dog happy and excited when you get home and the secretion of hormones can make your dog hungry or thirsty.
If you have a close relationship with your dog, you can see a reflection of the emotions that are evident in your dog’s facial expressions and movements. A wag of the tail, an excited posture, and the position of the ears and the expression of the eyes will show you how happy your dog is to see you.
Dogs have a strange way of imitating us with their facial expressions, it is easy to distinguish a questioning or unsympathetic look, a wrinkled forehead of a worried dog, the flaming eyes of an angry dog or the tender look of adoration like our dog. looks at us. Some people will swear that their dogs smile and laugh with them. It’s possible, you know.
Dogs can also use their voices to show emotion, they can squeal with pleasure, whine to get your attention, and bark when upset. They can cry in pain and show frustration by moaning and even sighing like humans do, when bored or alone. All of these actions and reactions are controlled by the limbic system.
Science has found that even wagging the tail is more complex than just moving for pleasure.
It seems that humans, dogs, birds, fish, and frogs have left-right brains, which means that the left brain controls the right side of the body and the right brain controls the left side of the body. Our left brain is associated with positive reactions and the right brain with negative avoidance reactions.
So by wagging the tail, it seems that happy tails move more to the right side, strangers or cats make the tails move just a little bit to the right, and a strong or dominant dog appearing in the scene will cause the tail is moving predominantly to the right. left. Why? Because the right brain is telling the dog to avoid this association if possible, the left side shows a negative reaction towards the other dog.
A dog’s emotions can be classified into two categories, one that produces beneficial responses and the other is a negative response. Charitable responses are things that do the dog good, such as hunger, a need to learn, and a desire to exercise, while negative responses produce a loss of appetite, a desire to run away, or a need to fight.
Happiness with your life is one of the most obvious positive emotions a dog has. Dogs show appreciation for the more mundane things in their lives. In turn, a happy dog is also very beneficial for our health. A bonding relationship, from human to dog, lowers our blood pressure and our stress levels go down, while our dog benefits from good food, playtime and lots of love from its owner.
One of the most instinctive emotions that a dog has is fear, this emotion is embedded in the mind of a dog and has been forever. This emotion prevents a dog from doing many stupid things, such as jumping off a high ledge or running in front of a car.
Fear for the most part is a good emotion, as it provides preventive medicine, in the sense that it protects the dog from many dangers and helps it adapt to the environment in which it lives.
However, there is a downside, as bad experiences can create negative emotions that in turn create behavior problems that are difficult to correct. Loud noises like firecrackers or thunderstorms can wreak havoc on a dog’s relationship with his family by creating behavior problems that they cannot correct.
One thing that is difficult for human dog handlers to remember and practice is not to comfort a dog if it is afraid of loud noises. The comfort you try to make will only reinforce the behavior at a later time, when it happens again.
It is said that one of the best things to do, in an effort to calm the dog, is to wrap it, using an elastic type bandage around the chest and abdomen or an elastic type shirt that fits the body. This reassures the dog, as the body will respond by activating sensory receptors in the skin and muscles. For some reason, the wrap raises the necessary noise level, to a higher level, to scare the dog and thus the dog calms down. I haven’t tried it, but it seems like an interesting idea and is worth a try if you have a dog that is afraid of loud noises.
There is also a product called DAP, which is composed of soothing pheromones, it is a synthetic formula, which reminds the dog of his days with his mother. This product can be used to help calm a dog that is afraid of loud noises and other fears such as separation anxiety or when a dog needs to stay in a kennel.
Another common emotion that dogs can suffer from is depression. Dogs that have gone through many changes in their life often suffer from depression. Losing a loved one, moving to a new home, or adding a new person to the family can cause a dog to become depressed. The cure for this is a lot, a lot of love and attention.
If your dog is depressed, lots of walks, car rides, and even a new puppy or other dog can help ease the depression. Some dogs will suffer and suffer pain for weeks and months.
Since most dogs live in the present moment, this type of depression will go away soon. Once the feeling of sadness is gone, the dog will not remember it, since he does not think about the future or live in the past, dogs are creatures NOW, just as we should try to be. Dogs are not afraid of old age or death, now that is a lesson we could learn.
Neurons in a dog’s brain are continually creating new connections with other neurons and knocking out other neurons, in response to whatever environmental changes are occurring in a dog’s life. What this means is that with treats, love, and training, we can rescue a dog from whatever emotional trauma it has experienced.
Dogs and humans share many emotions and that is why we enjoy their company so much. Our views on life may differ, and a dog’s emotions may be short-lived, but dogs can adapt to almost any lifestyle.
The plasticity of a dog’s brain and our knowledge of the dog’s brain allows us to properly condition our dogs to accept the scary parts, learn new tricks, and get the most out of life with us.