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September
10, 2001
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Emotional Dogs
| Canine Bliss |
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It's a good day
for walking — a good day for checking out the fields.
Geoffrey, a six-year-old mutt who never ignores his instinct
to hunt, detects the inviting aroma of rabbit on the breeze.
Because we can't ask dogs these kinds of questions, it's up to us humans to make observations and come to reasonable conclusions. But it's a tricky task because of the way we feel about dogs. It's a lot easier to make clinical observations about a hamster than about a loveable fur ball who likes to chase his own tail. So, the challenge for animal behaviorists is to try to interpret dogs' behavior in an objective way — to see their behavior for what it is rather than how we would like to see it. We dog owners like to believe that our dogs love us unconditionally, that they jump up on us to "hug" us, or that they sympathize when we're miserable. On the flip-side, we believe that dogs feel guilty when they know they've been bad, or that they are capable of doing things to get revenge on us (such as wrecking the house if we leave them alone for too long). All of these assumptions suggest that we see dogs as very emotional creatures, almost on a par with humans. The truth is, in making these assumptions, we're giving dogs too much credit. Most animal behaviorists agree that dogs do have an emotional life — but just how much of an emotional life they have is the subject of some debate. |
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Happy Dog, Sad
Dog |
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Dogs and Humans: Compatible Creatures Dogs and humans are both social animals. Veterinarian and author of The Dog's Mind, Bruce Fogle, writes, "Dogs make such good companions because they are pack animals. They thrive on togetherness." The most satisfying part of life for dogs is hanging out with the pack. The "pack" can include both other dogs and humans, and it has a strict social order. As Fogle says, "Dogs simply don't expect equality. Their minds are not wired up in that configuration." Social structure is crucial for dogs, and they will establish a pecking order with dominant and subdominant citizens (both canine and human!). You can observe pack activity in your own house because your dog's routine will be synchronized with yours. The dog rests when you do and most likely wants to eat when you do, too. As Fogle describes it, "Pack members should all rest at the same time and be active together. If the pack members are all full of energy, then the group is a powerful hunting unit." This natural instinct of the dog's is carried over into his domestic life with you. Considering how your dog views his place in the pack will help you understand how your dog feels. |
Complex Emotions What are the limits of a dog's emotions? If a dog can feel happy, sad, angry, and afraid, does this mean that he can also feel guilty, get jealous, or get embarrassed? No, says Marc Hauser, a Harvard University professor who wrote the book Wild Minds. He explains the distinction between types of emotions: "When we step away from the core emotions such as anger and fear that all animals are likely to share, we find other emotions such as guilt, embarrassment, and shame that depend critically on a sense of self and others… These emotions are uniquely human." This idea can be difficult to grasp. Think about Geoffrey for a moment. It's not possible for him to feel embarrassed, simply because he is not concerned with how others perceive him in the complex way that people are. Consider these two examples: |
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(1) There is no such thing as a jealous dog... Whenever I pet Geoffrey, our other dog, April, butts right in. She appears to be jealous of the attention Geoffrey is getting. In fact, April is not jealous. She is simply asserting her dominance over Geoffrey. She is first in the pecking order, so as far as she is concerned, she should get the attention and not him. It has nothing to do with jealousy and everything to do with dominance. |
(2) ...and there's no such |
Simple Needs To keep both dogs and their humans happy, it is vitally important to realize that dogs do not experience these types of emotions. This is especially true in negative situations: It is easy to accuse a dog of being "bad" — when the reality is that the dog was only doing something that made sense to him, with no malicious intent whatsoever. A dog's motives are never complex or devious: He usually just want to get attention, get food, or get exercise! Above all, he wants to be happy in his pack! |
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Anthropo...
What? |
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This story is based on the work of Bruce Fogle (DMV), Professor Marc Hauser, animal behavior expert Bill Campbell, and author Stephen Budiansky.
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