5 signs your dog loves you according to science

Dogs have always been considered man’s best friend.And for good reason. Over the centuries, these four-legged companion dogs have evolved into Loyal partners, inseparable from the people they live with.

A growing body of scientific research indicates that furry friends have distinct characteristics and abilities that allow them to do so Perceive, understand, communicate and show affection towards humans.

Their abilities are very diverse: from sniffing when someone is stressed to crying when reunited with their owners. This is what science has discovered How the special relationship between humans and dogs has evolved over time.

Dogs evolved from wild wolves into furry friends

The scientific consensus is that Dogs evolved into fur-loving pets about 15,000 years ago.

However, researchers have different theories about exactly how the wolves’ separation occurred.

in study Published in the magazine temper nature in June, Geneticists at the Francis Crick Institute analyzed the genomes of 72 ancient wolves from Europe, Siberia and North America over a 100,000-year period. Then they compared the wolf’s DNA, which makes up the genome, with the canine DNA of yesterday and today.

Through DNA analysis, Scientists have found that primitive and modern dogs are most similar to gray wolves in Siberia about 13,000 to 23,000 years ago.suggesting that domestication occurred somewhere in the Asian continent.

“A group of wolves from Central Asia gave rise to dogs,” he explains. interested in trade Adam Boyko, a canine geneticist at Cornell University, who was not involved in the study.

This may not be the end of the story, Boyko adds. The results do not rule out the possibility that dogs may have been domesticated multiple times.The ancient dogs of the Middle East, Africa, and southern Europe also show the ancestors of wolves in the Middle East.

Although his savage ancestors are known for their fierce nature, with the passage of time Dogs evolved to have larger, infant-like eyes.

In fact, in a study Posted in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences In 2019, researchers found that Dogs have muscles around their eyes that help them make eyes Show that soft, half-closed look that melts the heart.

Wolves don’t have these muscles, Which suggests that The wonderful expression of dogs is an evolutionary trait that has helped them get along better with humans.

Dogs can smell if you are nervous

Dogs can smell when you’re stressed, according to study Posted in pls one in September. Stress responses lead to physiological changes in human sweat and breathing that dogs can detect.

The study involved collecting breath and sweat samples from participants before and after completing a task that elicited the body’s stress response.

Then, dogs trained in scent recognition had to choose between a sample of an unstressed, stressed human. The dogs correctly identified the stress sample 94% of the time.

The study states, “This study demonstrates that dogs can distinguish between human breath and perspiration before and after a stressful task.” In short, Dogs take in human odors associated with stress well enough.

Dogs mirror their owners’ behavior (and resemble them too)

Even dogs take on the personalities of their owners. The Report Posted in Journal of research in personality In 2019, it surveyed more than 1,600 dog owners, representing nearly 50 different breeds.

was on the owners Explain their dogs’ personalities and answer questions about their behavioral history. Extroverted dog owners rated their dogs as more active and playful, while owners of more fearful dogs reported more negative emotions.

Although many studies support the idea that dogs and owners often look alike, this is largely because owners tend to choose dog breeds based on the breed’s similarity to them.

Dogs can communicate with humans and know when they’re making a mistake

Scientific evidence so far indicates that Dogs are programmed to connect with and understand people in unique ways.

He said long ago that “dogs respond well to the way we talk to them.” interested in trade John Bradshaw, animal anthropologist and author of animals among us. In fact, they fool many homeowners into thinking they understand literally every word.

But even though they may not understand the words you say, Dogs are very good at learning to respond to their owners’ tone of voice in specific ways. “It’s almost certain that a dog can respond to every word,” Bradshaw notes.

More evidence: other study Published in the magazine Scientific Reports In 2021 he found it Dogs can understand the difference between the accidental and intentional actions of humans, Or in other words, to see if I’m wrong.

The experience involves 51 dogs have been taught that they will receive delicious treats from a human through a gap in a glass partition. The researchers then looked at how the dogs reacted when they were denied food rewards.

In the study, dogs waited longer to retrieve a reward when the researcher held it on purpose than when the researcher dropped it or failed to pass it through the vitreous barrier. This finding indicates that Dogs can distinguish between intentional and unintended human actions.

“Canines’ communication skills put them in a unique position to fill the niche that they do alongside humans,” says Emily Bray, a dog cognition researcher at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

“Many of the tasks they perform for us, now and in the past (such as herding, hunting, spotting, and working as service dogs), are facilitated by their ability to understand our signals.”

Tears fill the eyes of dogs when they are reunited with their owners

It is common to see Dogs are happy to meet their owners.

In a study published in current biology last August, The researchers recruited 22 dogs and their owners.

First, the researchers measured the volume of tears in the dogs’ eyes during normal interaction with their owners, as a reference. Later, They measured it again at the reunion, after spending 5 to 7 hours away from its owner.

Scientists managed to confirm their suspicions: after a long parting, The dogs’ eyes filled with tears when they saw their owner.

“We found that dogs shed tears associated with positive emotions,” Takefumi Kikusui, lead author of the study and a veterinary researcher at Azabu University in Japan, said in a press release.

This behavior may be related to Dogs produce more oxytocin, known as the “love hormone,” when they see their owners. Oxytocin also plays a role in emotional bonding in humans.