Did you know that Australia is one of the countries with the highest pet ownership in the world? 39% of the households have a dog, that is 19 dogs for every 100 people.
This clearly shows our love for dogs which goes back thousands of years. For us there is no doubt that we have a special relationship with our pooches. But does our fur-child really love us as much as we love him?
There are scientists who study dog brains, using MRI scanners, trying to answer exactly that question. A neuroimaging study from animal cognition scientists at the Emory University in Atlanta in the USA shows that dogs see their owners as a part of their family. The scientists tested familiar, but also unfamiliar scents of humans as well as from other dogs and recognised that those scents activate the reward centre in the dog’s brains. The dogs preferred the scents of their owner over everything else.
Scientists also think that dogs can recognise our emotions which get transported through our voices. Researchers at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest tested how the dog’s brain reacts to human voices. The tests showed that human voices trigger a higher brain activity. There is a big similarity between human and dog brains in how they process happy sounds. It is an important start for understanding the good vocal communication between us and our pooches.
That is not the only thing we have in common with dogs. Dogs often act like children – when they’re scared or anxious, they go to their owner. Other than cats for example which just run away. The dog is also the only non-primate animal which looks us in the eye. It is important for them to build a good relationship with their owners.
Now we finally know that dogs love us as much as we love them. Researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital even proved that we love dogs as much as our own children. Women who had dogs and children for at least 2 years were shown pictures of both and both activated regions in the brains that are associated with reward, affiliation, social interactions and also emotion.