Is it right to assign human emotions to dogs?
Stephie Guy 
Do you treat dogs as though they are human? Do you give them human feelings and emotions? I do it all the time, and here’s why….
Our dogs brains have the same bits and pieces in them as human brains.
- We all have the same large structures - the cerebral cortex responsible for memory, emotions, impulse control, problem solving, social interaction, and motor function
- We all have a cerebellum - “the little brain" at the back of the head that co-ordinates movement and balance
- We all have the same small structures - the brainstem, a hippocampus involved in memory, the amygdala in charge of fast thinking (that’s the bit that decides whether we fight or run away)
So it’s really not unreasonable of us to compare how the dog is feeling to how we would feel.
But we’re not the same. So where are the differences?
Well, the single biggest difference is that our human brains are a LOT bigger than dogs brains. On the fancy sounding “Encephalisation Quotient” scale, human brains measure 7 and dogs measure 1.2, which means that our human brains are almost 6 times the size of our dogs’.
We also have a bigger and more developed frontal lobe that helps us to regulate our emotions more easily. And this links in perfectly to the theory that a dog’s intelligence is similar to that of a 2 to 3-year-old child.
Now, if we believe that a 2 to 3 year old child has emotions (and anyone that has raised at a child can tell you that 2 to 3 year old children very definitely do have emotions!) then we have to conclude that dogs also have emotions.
Dogs really do have feelings just like us, and it’s so much easier for us humans to be able to visualise what a dog is going through if we can relate it back a similar human situation.
Is this making sense? What are your thoughts? I’d love to know!
❤️
Stephie
Want to know more?
I'm Stephie Guy, Dog Trainer, Canine Mindset Coach, and Owner of Thoughtful Paws Dog Training. And I'd love to get to know you better!
