Canine Mind: What Does My Dog Think of Me?

Knowing what our dog thinks of us is probably one of the most common curiosities among owners. Researchers have also wondered about this, and different studies have been launched to answer it.

Specifically, we want to know if our dog loves us as much as we love it. Of course, we can sense the answer, but it's much better if we can get scientific confirmation.

Studying the Canine Mind

The history of dogs and humans living together goes back thousands of years — some say as far as 40,000. But it's only relatively recently that science has allowed us to study canine behavior with scientific rigor.

To do this, MRI has been used, a test frequently used in both human and veterinary medicine. It lets us get images of the inside of the brain and study its activity by observing changes in blood flow.

The drawback is that it requires the dog to be awake, but completely still, for the results to be valid. These aren't studies that can be done with a sedated dog. That's why, before starting any research, it's essential to train the participating dogs to tolerate the MRI.

Anatomy of a Dog's Brain

One canine brain researcher, Stanley Coren, who's also used MRI to study dog brain activity, has explained the functions handled by different brain regions:

• Telencephalon: this is the frontal part. It interprets information from the senses and generates the dog's character and social behavior.
• Diencephalon: handles basic functions, including sensory information too. It's a well-developed region, which explains dogs' agility and quick reflexes, plus their keen hearing.
• Metencephalon: responsible for regulating blood flow and pulse, and is also known as the reward and play center.
• Medulla oblongata: regulates involuntary functions like digestion, heartbeat, breathing, swallowing, or sneezing. It's already developed before birth.
• Corpus callosum: enables communication between the two brain hemispheres. Its size and the speed of this interaction vary by breed.

A Dog's Reaction to Scents

The research relied on a dog's sense of smell, since it's its most developed sense. Participating dogs were exposed to the scent of familiar people and completely unfamiliar ones. As we might expect, the dog's brain activated with familiar people's scents, but not with strangers'.

Specifically, a brain area called the caudate nucleus, linked to emotional memory, was triggered. That's why it activates in response to contact with familiar scents. So, a dog's mental model includes recognition of their important people, whose memory persists even when they're not present.

The interpretation of this data is that the dog places us in a preferred spot in its ranking of positive values. This matches ethologists' observations that we're a dog's main point of reference, above members of its own species. If they feel afraid or in need, they turn to their caretaker first.

Do Dogs Love Us?

Research conducted by neuroscientist Gregory Berns has led him to conclude that our relationship with our dogs definitely isn't one-directional. Dogs are animals with high emotional and social intelligence, which lets them maintain a reciprocal relationship with us.

In other words, science has shown they have feelings toward us. Berns even literally states that dogs are thinking about what we're thinking. This data matches the widespread impression that a dog is our best friend. Stanley Coren follows this same line of thinking.

According to him, dogs have brain structures known to produce emotions in people, along with similar chemical changes. They also release oxytocin, known as the love hormone. Given all this, it's not crazy to attribute to them emotions similar to what we experience.

How Do Dogs Love?

All the data drawn from these various studies has led to attributing dogs an emotional capacity comparable to that of a two-year-old child. So, they can love us and experience feelings we know well, like joy, fear, anger, or panic.

But, just like very young children, they can't develop more complex emotions, like shame or guilt, no matter how much we owners want to see remorse when we catch them in some mischief.

Bibliography Berns, Gregory. 2013. How Dogs Love Us: A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain. New York: New Harvest. Coren, Stanley. 1995. The Intelligence of Dogs: A Guide To The Thoughts, Emotions, And Inner Lives Of Our Canine Companions. New York: Bantam Books.