They’re more emotional than science gave them credit

For all the dog owners and lovers out there, we get to know our pets well. Despite our canine’s inability to talk, we often understand their emotions based on their body language. Scientists now confirm what dog owners have suspected all along: Dogs experience a wider range of emotions than once thought.

Dogs feel love

The dog brain is substantially smaller than the human brain when accounting for body size, so it isn’t as complex as our brain. Yet, MRI studies reveal dogs’ brains aren’t much different from humans. MRIs have shown the same sections of both the human and dog brain light up based on various types of stimuli, according to a board-certified neurologist, Dr. J.P. McCue, at New York City’s Animal Medical Center.

It’s also been found that dogs produce oxytocin, the neurotransmitter and hormone that creates the emotion of love in humans. In fact, research reveals that when our dogs stare into our eyes, it activates oxytocin, creating a bond similar to that between a mother and infant.

David Grimm reports on the research of this phenomenon in his article, “How dogs stole our hearts,” in www.sciencemag.org. In an experiment by Takefumi Kikusui, an animal behaviorist, dogs and their owners gazed into each other’s eyes. Their gaze ranged from a few seconds to a couple of minutes. The researchers found in those dogs and owners who stared longer, the oxytocin levels rose 130 percent and 300 percent, respectively. This adds to the growing body of research that supports dogs can feel love and attachment.

Just like in humans, dogs’ brains develop as they grow. In humans, the brain reaches full development around age 25. But dogs’ brains are fully developed around the age of 6 months. At this point, dogs’ emotional development is equivalent to a 2 ¹/₂-year-old human, according to researchers.

To gain perspective on what that means in regards to dogs’ range of emotions, Stanley Coren charts the emotions of a 2 ¹/₂-year-old child in “What Emotions Do Dogs Actually Experience?”

These include joy, love and affection, contentment, excitement, shyness and suspicion, fear, disgust, distress and anger. At that age, however, children don’t experience feelings that require self-consciousness, such as pride, shame, guilt and contempt.

How to read your dog’s feelings

Here are some of the ways dogs express different emotions.

Joy. Dogs often express this when a family member comes home, or a familiar guest comes to visit. Dogs often run and jump, wag their tails and lavish kisses. They also express joy when playing by barking or giving a playful bow.

Love and affection. When dogs are feeling affectionate, they might nudge you with their nose, make loving eye contact (as opposed to the threatening eye contact of an unknown dog), or softly groan and sigh while lying next to you. Some dogs will lean their bodies up against you while sitting or standing. They also express their love through kissing, jumping and rolling onto their backs with a wagging tail.

Shyness, suspicion, fear. These emotions are often quite evident. Dogs might flatten their ears, avoid eye contact, tuck their tail under, cower, pant or shake. They can also have dilated glassy eyes. Pacing, hiding, whining, barking, sneering, nipping, or submissive urination can also be signs of fear or shyness.

Distress. When dogs are depressed, they can experience changes in appetite, behavior, sleep patterns and reduced activity levels. Emotionally distressed dogs also show this in their posture with downcast eyes and a low bent neck. They might also lick or shed excessively.

Anger. If your dog has ever ignored you or given you the cold shoulder, there’s a good chance he/she is mad at you. But if you’re doing something that makes your dog particularly angry, the signs may be more prominent. Your dog might take a rigid posture, bark loudly in your direction, or make sharp or short barks. This is a warning to stop whatever you’re doing that’s making your dog angry. If your dog begins growling, repeatedly howling with a rising pitch or showing teeth, it’s prepared to attack.

What about hackles?

People often think raised hackles indicate a dog is angry or showing aggression. Sometimes that’s the case. But raised hackles are an involuntary reaction and most often caused by a host of other emotions. These include excitement, arousal, fear, shyness, defensiveness or being startled. That said, dogs can bite out of fear, not just anger. The best way to know the meaning behind the raised hackles is to look at other body languages that indicate what the dog is feeling.

Don't have a pet? Consider fostering one through the Roice-Hurst Humane Society.