Health
New Study Confirms that Dogs Can Recognize a Bad Person
You, probably like me have that one friend that your dog barks and growls at no matter how many times they come over.
What if science proved that dogs can actually tell if a person is good or not?
Seems like we should take our furry friends with us to every first date and job interview we have. What if it can prove that our floppy eared friends are actually on our side, truly as a “Man’s best friend?”. That’s an ideal I am sure all pet owners already believe in and support.
According to a study published in the journal Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, a dog can actually recognize factors that make up a person’s personality.
In the study, they discovered that if the participants were mean or did not offer help to the dog’s owner they were more unlikely to accept a treat from that person verse a person who would offer help and show kindness. I don’t know about you, but that’s probably smarter than some humans I know.
The Strong Bond with Our Dogs
Science helps prove that we show more affection to our dogs than we do to our current partners.
The growing new of age adults are “Millennials” and they seem to be the steam engine behind this new trend of raising dogs together before kids. The parental instincts kick in and a bond is formed.They in fact would rather even date someone that our “babies” approve of than one that did not pass the sniff test.
A hormone is expelled when we love on our four legged friends that have a cement like impact on their relationship. Does this “rub off” on our dogs and can they sense when we like somebody or can this really be a tell based solely on their instinct.
Also, their snouts have been something humans have taken advantage of for centuries or longer, whether it be for finding food, avoiding danger or, in recent years, detecting medical conditions such as cancer.
A study - published in the journal Animal Cognition go on to state “Dogs have more sophisticated social intelligence than we thought. This social intelligence has evolved selectively in their long life history with humans.”
Dogs Can Sense an Owners Emotions
Another possibility is that because dogs are so in tune with humans, they are actually picking up on their human’s uncertainty and just reflecting back the person’s own anxiety about a situation. Or possibly that both dogs and humans have a sixth sense or a gut feeling about certain situations, but humans frequently ignore their gut instincts and dogs never ignore their intuition.
If a person is nervous or anxious, angry or hostile they put off a type of energy much like if a person is speaking loudly or making wild gestures. This will put the dog on alert, making them uncomfortable and nervous themselves.
When a dog is relaxed, take note. They are relaxed because the energy around them is relaxed. The people that are surrounding you are the people that also surround your dog. Have you noticed your dog in a relaxed state? Isn’t it just blissful to watch? They are cuddled up on their bed or on your lap, eyes closing as your stroke their fur and tell them how good they are.
One of the delights of watching the behavior of our dogs is the way that they approach almost every human being in a trusting and friendly manner. The same applies for young human children, who enter into social interactions with the idea that every human adult is trustworthy and has their best interests at heart.
Of course, over time, the human child will learn that some people are more reliable and worthy of trust than others. It’s this new data that shows that the same holds true for dogs. It now seems clear that that if you frequently lie to dogs, they lose their trust in you and begin to act as if they can no longer rely on the information that you give them.
As mentioned before, a dog’s attention to detail means they can pick up on slight changes that humans may miss. A dog’s love for his owner means they will notice very small changes in their body language and demeanor. Therefore, if you are talking to someone you are wary of or feel nervous around, your dog may pick up on this from subconscious changes in your body and behavior, causing them to act differently.
Conclusion
So, if your dog starts to acts weirdly towards a human there may be a very real reason as to why. Dogs listen to their gut feeling and will act on what they feel without second guessing. Either you may be showing signs that you are not comfortable around this person. Or things are about to take a turn for the worse.
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