8 Ways Your Dog Sense Your Emotions.

The bond between humans and dogs is one of the strongest, they have been with humans for thousands of years, from hunting help to companionship, they have evolved with us as a species, they are attuned to our moods and behaviours as they are and were dependent on us for food, an important thing for survival. Dogs may have an owner or not but they can observe, see and predict human behaviour and emotions very well.

Well, here are ways your dog senses your emotions:

Dogs are good at reading your facial expressions and body language, they notice basic human emotions such as sadness, anger, happiness and stress. They act cautious and avoid you when they see you frown, angry and approach you with wagging tail when they see you smile. They can tell the difference between a sad face and a happy face.

- Eyes are the windows to the soul and dogs connect with humans more with the eyes, they tend to notice the eyes more, at times when you are angry, your dog avoids eye contact or may act cautious while doing so, to show respect and to avoid conflict, they track your gaze to know what's happening and to pick cues about you and the surroundings.

- They notice your postures, movements and motions too. Loose and open stance looks approachable to them, they tend to avoid rigid and stiff postures. Fast movements, weight shifted towards, make them feel excited and playful as they feel you are ready to act, play or to go on a walk.

- Dogs may understand words less but tend to notice tone of the voice more. Your pitch, rhythm and volume. They notice soothing calm voice, it makes them calm and comfort, angry outburst or playful high pitched voice makes them uneasy and sad. Sudden loudness can make them excited or scared based on your expressions and other surrounding factors.

- Dogs are attuned to human behaviour and routine, changing usual routine of eating, sleeping and walking or behaving differently, acting restless or different, may distress them a bit as they think something is off and be curious about it.

- Dogs notice and mirror the energy human project. Your mood, behaviour, physical energy, etc. They notice your increased heart rate and breathing patterns and can also can if you are frightened, scared or ill.

Dogs can smell scent, hormone change, illness as they have incredible scent receptors. Much stronger than humans. Many dogs smell their owners when they meet them after a long time, they can know if you hugged another dog or where you went, as they often remember a place by its smell. Dogs can detect hormone changes, for example- when you are excited or nervous your body produces adrenaline, which has a scent, trained dogs can detect this smell easily and can know a person’s state. Apart from emotions dogs can help detect life threatening diseases like cancer. They can track a person with his/her smell. Can detect explosives, drugs,etc with their nose. So they can always smell you and know a number of things.

Dogs crave touch when they are anxious, stressed or when they want attention. They can differentiate between types of touch and can read your emotions through it. They pick on your strength of petting, pressure of hand grip on leash, etc. If you pet them for long, they sense your good mood and get assured of the bond they share with you. If you avoid touching them they’ll know you are not in a good mood. If you pet them a bit, they may crave more or just be content, but would be assured of your mood for sure.

Dogs are our intelligent, four legged friend who recognizes humans, develop attachment, understand people and their emotions and have good memory, which makes them excellent at detecting and knowing emotions of human beings.

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Frequently asked questions (FAQ's)

1. Why dogs follow their owners everywhere?
   Dogs live and feel safe in their packs. By remaining close to the leader of the pack (owner), dogs show their loyalty and affection. They have the social instinct to remain close to the hand that feeds them.
2. Do dogs sense danger before humans?
   Yes, dogs have superior sense of hearing and smelling that allows them to detect small environmental change (vibration detection) or chemical signals (stress hormone), which humans often miss.
3. Do dogs understand human language?
   No, while dogs may understand some words of humans but they do not understand the language, grammar and context. They use clues like body language, tone and facial expressions to understand and respond.
4. How long can a dog remember its owner?
   When dogs form a bond with a person, they remember them even years apart as they have a strong memory linked to the scent of a person which helps them recall people even after very long time apart.