Every morning as I prepare his meal, Ozzy, our black and white temptress, looks up at me with the warmest eyes. He also does my eyebrows. The cutest smile. He seems to know that I feed him with dedication because he tilts his head in anticipation of food.
“Does he really love me?” I wonder as I wait patiently on my stomach, wagging my tail wildly. Because sometimes I get a vague feeling that I’m being hustled. It’s like I’m one of Pavlov’s dogs and he’s Pavlov too, conditioning me with his hugs and baby-faced eyes to do nice things for him.
Is this love or something else? Can dogs really love humans the way we love humans? It turns out that questions like these have a rich scientific history and yield provocative conclusions that could change our relationship with dogs forever.
The story of dogs and emotions begins in the Victorian era when this issue sparked one of the first culture wars in history. It included banners, placards, and flyers. There were burning and vandalizing statues, angry marches, and speeches to packed city halls. At one point, hundreds of people appeared to be fighting in the street. They were poised to debate whether emotions like love are unique to humans or shared by many animals, especially social mammals such as dogs.
On the one hand, there were those who drew support from Charles Darwin’s ideas about how mammals (including humans) shared a common ancestor. They argued that dogs can express many (or all) of the emotions we feel, only to varying degrees. On the other side were medical scientists who saw dogs only as automatons, machine-like subjects acceptable for medical experimentation.
Medical scientists discovered sentimental ideas about whether dogs have emotions and supported a rational, objective approach to the technique. It was unprofessional and even unethical because it threatened to impede medical progress..
Objectivity is still an important point made by medical scientists today. It is clear that many modern animal scientists are reluctant to use the term “love” for non-human animals because it is too subjective. After all, if generations of poets can’t agree on the definition of love, what hope does science have? This is why many dog researchers prefer the word “attachment” when referring to the bond between dogs and us.
“Attachment is a special and measurable aspect of love. In particular, it is about the sense of security that an individual derives from the presence of a loved one,” she explains. Dr. Clive Wynn a canine behavioral scientist and author of the following books: dog is love. “It especially talks about the strong bond between parent and child and is a good model for the relationship between dogs and humans.”
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Wynn considers love to be an everyday word. Not suitable for scientific papers or papers, but acceptable for general use. But he doesn’t hold back on his word L when describing his beloved friend, Xephos.
“We love her. She loves us,” Wynn insisted. “In fact, she loves almost everyone. She forms strong, powerful connections with people very quickly.”
Read more about dogs:
How do we know that a dog loves us?
As we realize, dogs actually seem to be psychologically attached to their human companions. For example, in experiments in which a “stranger” enters a room that already contains a dog and its human companion, the dog reacts in much the same way as a human child. In an uncertain environment, they spend more time near human companions And when left alone with a stranger, your dog will spend more time near the door.
Domestic dogs seem to naturally become attached to human companions in other ways. In one experimental setting in which dogs and hand-reared wolves were forced to choose between food and caretakers, many dogs not only investigated the food but also came to the caretakers for cuddles and attention. As expected, the wolf was only thinking about his stomach..
In another experiment, Human caregivers pretended to be trapped in a box Their dog showed signs of distress, crying and whining, and pawed at the box in an attempt to help the caregiver escape.
“Dogs really seem to respect humans in the same way that they do between parent and child,” Wynn added.
Even the physiological mechanisms that control these attachments (brain hormones and neurotransmitters) appear to be similar between humans and dogs. Most notable is the role of oxytocin, a molecule associated with pleasurable emotional states in mammals. Oxytocin is especially important for humans. It spikes especially during breastfeeding and sex and acts as a natural drug that promotes social attachments that ensure the survival of genes to future generations.
Dogs experience a surge of oxytocin when they get attached to other dogs, and importantly, they get the same surge of oxytocin around humans. In fact, when dogs and their human companions look into each other’s eyes, oxytocin levels in both species increase dramatically. In one study, just 30 minutes of lovingly looking at each other was enough for humans and their canine companions. Oxytocin levels more than double.
Why do our dogs love us?
Why did dogs evolve this way? Why do so many domestic dogs become so attached to their humans? In recent years, research into the genetic makeup of dogs has provided interesting insights into why.
The most notable thing is that dogs are social by nature. Sociality is literally written into our DNA, based on GTF2I and GTF2IRD1, two genes known to influence social behavior in mammals, including humans. Mutations in these genes may lead to more sociable behavior.
“The average dog has two to four of these insertions, but some breeds and breed groups have far fewer insertions, while others may have many more. “There is,” says the doctor. Brigitte von Holt, associate professor of evolutionary genetics at Princeton University. “Finding a dog with six or more mutations is rare, but not impossible.”
Luckily, Vonholt’s dog, a smiling, prancing sheepdog known as Mara, received a five-point score. For this reason, she is called “hypersocial.”
“It’s been great to see her grow and develop her personality,” Vonholt says. “I don’t know if I blame it on her genetics or her upbringing, but Marla is very bossy when it comes to seeking attention. She becomes resentful when conversations that are not focused on her are accompanied by
In 2017, vonHoldt et al. completed the following study. How did the frequencies of GTF2I and GTF2IRD1 differ between dog and gray wolf populations?, concluded that there is a “strong genetic dimension” to how dogs and humans interact. Food may have been an important part of early interactions.
“Early wolves had just one or two mutations that affected their social behavior, but they very easily benefited from close interaction with nearby human settlements and villages. “We were able to do that,” Vonholt explains. “Once human interaction began to take effect, these mutations became more frequent, paving the way for the dogs you and I know today.”
This means that much of the evolutionary history of dogs boils down to two things: survival of the fittest and survival of the friendliest. A fight for life. Struggle for love. It’s all written in the deep history of dogs.
Studies like Vonholt’s explain why and how dogs become attached so easily. But they don’t take us any closer to the big question: What does this attachment feel like for dogs? Is the love we feel for dogs similar to the love dogs return? How can we know that for sure?
Our Dog’s Affection and Emotional Needs
For more than 100 years, this philosophical conundrum of objectivity has been an intractable rock blocking the path of science. But a new experimental approach shows that the rock wobbles slightly, revealing an exciting new area of research. Leading the way is a black-and-white mutt called Callie, the first dog to willingly step into a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner and have its brain scanned.
Curry is like the Rosetta Stone for anyone interested in the science of what animals think and feel. 2012, Her Human Companion (Neuroscientist) professor gregory burns (from Emory University) carefully devised a training routine to get her used to the loud noises and small spaces inside the fMRI scanner. This training routine proved so successful that it was later used on other dogs by human family volunteers.
Callie and the other dogs proved that A dog’s brain lights up with emotion, much like the human brain.. Of particular interest was the finding that the pleasure centers of Callie’s brain were excited not only when she was informed of an upcoming food reward but also when a human companion suddenly appeared to greet her. Even the smell of Callie’s human companion was enough to see Callie blush his face with pleasure. Just as human adults do when they see children, and vice versa.
Conclusion? It’s love…or something close to it. Same as we know, it’s an obsession.
What should I do then? Do the recent plethora of discoveries about dogs and their unique attachment to us require us to change the way we treat them? If dogs feel the same way we do, don’t we have more of a responsibility to make their lives better? This issue in particular continues to be debated.
“Perhaps it’s time to reconsider our relationships and move away from thinking of ourselves as owners?” argues Holly Root Gutteridge, a postdoctoral canine researcher at the University of Lincoln. She prefers her “guardianship” as describing our relationship with dogs. She said: “We are taking care of their physical health, but why not also take care of their mental health?”
Dr. Sean Wensley Senior Veterinarian and Author Through the eyes of a veterinarian “Recognizing the ability of animals to experience emotions means that we morally have to respond to the welfare needs of animals when they are in human care,” he agrees. . “As we gain a better scientific understanding of these needs, we can actually better tailor care to ensure that both the dog’s physical and emotional needs are met.”
More than 100 years ago, science and society collided over love. Today, our two countries are more united than ever, thanks to some surprising discoveries. However, the relationship between dogs and humans is by no means fixed. That will continue to change as new scientific discoveries light the way. Our love affair is not over yet. Our unique attachment continues.
5 ways to know if your dog loves you
soft eye contact
Prolonged direct eye contact is very intimidating for most dogs. However, if your dog is happy to share a gentle gaze with you, it could mean that the dog feels comfortable connecting with you in this way.
big wags
Claire Stallard, an animal behaviorist at welfare charity Blue Cross, said: ‘If a dog wiggles their whole body or wags their tail at us, it means they are happy to see us. People know about it.” “But notice the ‘helicopter tail’, where the tail rotates like a propeller. This is often reserved for people who like it.”
nap and lap
Dogs like to nap next to each other to stay warm and safe. They often actively select family members to whom they feel attached, especially for this purpose. “It’s important to remember that cuddles should always be done at the dog’s convenience,” says Stallard.
lick
Source: www.sciencefocus.com
