Do Dogs Feel Empathy?

There have been many debates about whether or not dogs have feelings, whether or not they can show qualities like we can. For example, the question of many is: do dogs feel empathy? We are going to get you out of doubt.

Dogs feel empathy, true or false?

All of us who are animal lovers have our verdict, but we would like science to confirm it, or has it already done so?

We cannot deny that there have been many occasions in which we have seen our dog show empathy. For example, it is common for owners to pretend they are crying so that the animal comes running to give them affection. Do you know any dog ​​that has not come to the moans of its master?

We have seen our dogs defend ourselves hundreds of times if someone has yelled at us or even raised their hands. Also to be by our side in bed when we have been sick and not to leave there or before the doctor’s visit. Can’t we say that this is showing empathy?

However, there are still skeptics who say that neither dogs have feelings nor can they show empathy, but what matters to us is what science says. Would you like to know?

What does science say about whether dogs empathize?

A study carried out at the University of Porto (Portugal) discovered very interesting data. They selected 29 dogs that had been living with their owners for six months or more, and they were tested in their own home so they could feel more comfortable.

The objective of this study was to find out if our dogs imitate our yawns by a simple reflex or by empathy. It is known that we yawn before our friends, family or people with whom we have enough confidence, and it  is believed that catching yawns is a reflection of empathy.

Dogs have a tendency to yawn when we do, and this study was done with the idea of ​​showing why they did. To do this, they recorded the sound of their owners yawning, as well as the artificial yawn of a female voice unknown to the animal. The dogs would only hear the sounds and would not have eye contact with the owners.

Without this eye contact, if the dogs imitated yawning, it would be clear that they were not doing so by a simple reflex, as a monkey imitates what it sees. For several weeks the dogs listened to all sounds, real and artificial, from their owners or the owners of others, with an interval of one week between each one.

The results of the study

The results obtained were that 12 of the 29 dogs yawned when hearing real sounds, especially those of their own owners. Dogs may see yawning as a sign of little distress and want to show solidarity with the cause.

Although the figures may seem insufficient, they were enough to prove by science that dogs have empathy. Something that did not surprise one of the researchers, who explained that the fact that the man lived with the dog for at least 15,000 years could create an affective-work relationship that led to empathy. They say that the touch makes the affection, right?

“This study tells us something about the mechanisms underlying contagious yawning in dogs,” said Evan McLean, a doctoral student at the Duke University Center for Canine Cognition in Durham, North Carolina.

“As in humans, dogs can adopt this behavior using only their ears,” he stressed.

Be that as it may, this is just one of many studies showing that our dog friends have feelings and can show empathy. If there are still skeptics about it, we cannot say more than the evidence is evident.