Does Your Dog Actually Love You?

The technical answer is no.  The simple answer is yes.  There is a story in the Washington Post.  It details the complex research about dogs done in recent decades.  Intelligence is tested and also attraction.

You can read the full story by clicking here.

The synopsis is scientists don’t use the word love.  It’s unscientific.  They can measure brain scans of what we call love.  When your dog sees you after a prolonged absence, the animals brain “lights up”.

It isn’t just about an expectation he’s going to be fed.  Dogs have a definite connection.  They bond with the people with whom the canines live.

I’ve discovered this after just a few months with dogs I’ve owned or fostered in the past.  One was distraught as we parted after 3 months.  And it wasn’t like he came to me as a puppy.  He was five years old when he arrived and stayed for a brief period.  We went walking a few times daily and it wasn’t long before he would curl up and sleep at my feet while I was watching TV.  When I came home from work he would spin in circles.

A couple of years ago there was a photograph that made the rounds of a dog in mourning.  Its master had died at war.  Some people claimed the dog didn’t know the man was dead in a casket, next to which the pooch was sprawling.  It appears we’re now learning the dog knew the man it loved was dead and dead in the box.  Dogs have stayed beside graves for several years.  Most famously in Scotland, where the animal remained until its life came to an end.