Can Dogs Fall In Love?

Love is possibly the strongest feeling a person can ever feel. But …  have you ever wondered if dogs can fall in love ?

It is common to hear allusions to the love that dogs feel for humans, and in fact the hormonal reality of the dog seems to indicate that they come to feel something very similar to falling in love. However, is this feeling the same between them?

Apparently the answer to this question is still positive, as dogs can develop strong emotions with others at different levels of depth. What has been shown is that both humans and dogs present the same chemical changes (hormones) when they see or have contact with the subject of their affections.

Scientific reality

Scientific investigations in charge of investigating the emotional reality of dogs have concluded that the mind of dogs is more or less equivalent to that of a human being between two and two and a half years of age, with respect to their mental capacity, emotions and learning.

Although the full range of emotions have not been fully developed in the dog, the foundations of these exist and they tend (like young children) to love deeply.

In a study carried out at Emory University (Atlanta) it was also discovered that a part of the brain, which is precisely associated with positive emotions, had similar reactions in dogs and in people. From obtaining this result, it can be interpreted that humans and dogs feel (at least emotionally) experiences such as camaraderie, love, attachment, etc.

Emotional reality

This kind of hormonal cocktail results in a way of feeling and reacting to different stimuli, and it is not only in relation to humans, as this transcends towards their congeners and even animals of different species.

However,  it cannot be said that dogs love exactly as humans do, because love, in addition to a series of sensations produced by stimuli and hormones, has a conceptual and symbolic level in humans.

Dogs do not have this ability to conceptualize about the events that happen to them, especially subjective values ​​(including love.) That is why they react impulsively, guided by their instincts, towards what they feel.

This is why dogs tend to make great displays of affection or contempt, because their feeling is, to put it in a way (pure).

Love and coexistence

Because dogs have a strong, hierarchically established social structure, they tend to develop powerful bonds with members of their pack, especially their Alpha.

Coexistence is deeply involved in this process, because the longer a dog lives with a person or dog, the greater the bonding level it will feel.

This does not mean that the dogs stop loving or forget their previous caretakers, simply that, due to the change in the hierarchical relationship, the dog develops new emotions.

However, cases of dogs reacting euphorically when seeing their handlers or former playmates have been widely reported , even years after they were last seen.

Ways to show affection

Dogs have many ways of saying that they love their caretaker or another animal without “saying it” in words. Some of the tools they have to show us how much they love us are evidenced in these actions:

• He goes after the person with whom he feels protected or with whom he feels safe.
• Wag his tail when he sees you (or shows more visible affection).
• Invite games, especially with the toys he likes.
• Sleep soundly close to you.
• Look for comfort when he’s scared or nervous.
• Groom (lick) the person or animal you trust.