What is it that makes dogs "love" humans so much?

I think I know they don't feel emotions like we do...but Willis and I are very close, something that I honestly haven't felt as strongly with any other dog before and I can't put my finger on it. I miss him when I am away and he pines for me (sulks) and won't eat. He is beside himself when I come back and I have to fuss him before anyone else in the house he then glues himself to me permanently for the next 48 hours :D

He just loves to sit and have his face kissed and he is the most affectionate dog I have ever known. If it is possible for a dog to feel "love" then I am sure this is an example of it...

But what is it that makes some dogs more humanised <?> than others? Is it nature? nurture? breed?

And is it actually possible for a dog to feel "love" for a human? To say so would surely be giving the dog human emotions - but if not, what is it that makes them so...domestic?

It's an interesting point, because all my dogs have been very different in their reactions to the various members of the family. Clover is very much the Boy's dog, Harry is definitely mine, and Piglet thinks hubby is God's gift. Beattie is so desperate for affection she'll glue herself to any of us. Yet they're all treated the same.
:)

Yep - Phoebe will have fuss off everyone...but Willis is *my* dog through and through.

I also wonder if the fact that I had him at 6 weeks has made him the way he is. He is so smart too - in our front room he opens the dorr inwards to get out and then pushes the baby gate outward with his nose in one movement. Phoebe can't even catch a ball LOL

Good question!!
I would like to think they love us, I miss ours when I'm away from them even for just a day and wnet we went to Floriday last year for just a week I couldn't wait to get home in the end!! Of course they didn't know if we were coming home, if ever, but they went mad when we got home(we had a housesitter in case you think we left them alone :D) bu that could have been coz it was all four of us at the same time. I wonder if they have any perception of time? I wonder if the age you bring the pup homehas any bearing on it, say if you bring home a 6 week old as opposed to a 9 week old would the younger one become more humanised and therefore affectionate? I don't know....
This seems like it will be an interesting discussion, I love learning about how they think(dogs I mean!), what goes on them brains of theirs'?!!!
Emily
PS I wonder if they dream like us too?

I think they have some idea of time passing, because when we've been out of the house for the routine times, like going shopping, or one of us to work (we're never both at work at the same time) we get the normal happy greeting on our return. But if one of us has had to go away for a couple of days the greeting on the return is very different - much more OTT. If hubby's been away for the weekend Piglet will squeal with delight and bounce up and down, rather than just carrying toys and waggling.

What really brings it home to me is the comparison between the interaction between humans and all my other animals:

Horses:
Horses far prefer to be with their own kind. They need me for food, they recognise me, they trust I won't hurt them - but they wouldn't care if they didn't see me again! They only really remember "food time" during the day, only come to call if they want something or its feed time and are not bothered with being fuss - although they enjoy it when they are groomed and will mutually groom me (which hurts).

Rabbits & GP's:
To me, are only one step away from wildness. The GP's we have had have always been skitty - even when tame. Another example is that one of our tame rabbits was released by one of the horses and is now out, living in the field shelter, fending for itself, happy as larry (eyeing us up suspiciously if we go near and dancing just far enough away from us when we look like we are on a catching mission :D )

Rats:
These, I would say, are the closest to dogs in terms of human interaction. I have had rats that recognise us and won't go near anyone else - I have had a vet have to retrieve one from up my sleeve 5 times (kept wriggling free and running up my shirt LOL). Friendly, playful, smart and affectionate - and enjoy human company.

But still - there's nothing like the relationship I have with Willis - sometimes I forget he's a dog.

I used to have a very friendly chicken. She was the only one out of our small flock who would choose to come and settle down beside me (or on top!) if I was sunbathing, and she snuggled up to the dogs as well. The others would come running for food and then potter off again, but this one genuinely seemed to enjoy our company.

Chloe, I know what you mean. My oldest dog was a rescue, and I have a relationship with him I will never have with another dog. He reads my mind, responds to me when I am ill or upset and seems to understand everything I say. He is not affectionate and tolerates being kissed, but enjoys being stroked. I think that may be partly a dominance thing and partly lack of cuddles as a pup. The 'baby' however, is the most affectionate dog I have ever met, and seems to physically need to be cuddled. He will be kissed and cuddled by others, but he will actually fall asleep in my arms and that is where he is happiest.

With regards to the other animals, I think it is something to do with pack instinct, wolves and dogs form a very tight bond with pack members, much more so than any of the others, although some horses I have known have become very dependent on special friends, plus the level of intelligence. Dogs are by far the most intelligent of the animals you mentioned. Interestingly, you said the rats can be quite chosey, and the too are very intelligent animals. I'm not sure if 'love' is the right word, but if there was an animal version of it, I have no doubt that our dogs feel it.

Oh, and it has been proven that dogs dream, whoever asked that.

Claire

It's not a human emotion that your dog jas but a pack"bonding"it can be seen in wild dog packs Licks & body contact is importaant between wild dogs. Dogs like humans as they are providers not just of food but of grooming, warm beds & play. We tean to treat dogs as puppies are treated in the wild & most dogs are happy to go along with it.

There's a closer bond between dogs & owners  than cats & owners because dogs are pack animals & cats are not, in the wild foxes are solitary animals & wolves & the wild dogs are pack animals.

As long as dogs are treated consistantly & with the respect the deserve their are usually no problems.

Your Willis is from a breed that needs company they don't make good kennel dogs(my friend has 7 danes at present & they all live in as part of her "pack" I love Danes but could never own one I get my Dane fix from Babs' dogs

If it's not love, it sure feels like it Chloe :)

Murfee is 100% my dog, and although all of my other dogs have been "my dogs", not in the way that he is. His breed is renouned for being independant, yet although he can be, mostly when he is tired and grumpy :D he sticks to me like glue, I can't even have a bath or go to the toilet without him trying to follow. When all the family are out walking, he won't go ahead with them, he stays with me. Even if I go out and everyone else is in, he stays by the door waiting for me, if I'm only out 5 minutes, the fuss I get, WOW, you would think that I had been away for 2 weeks!!! So I think that it is nature and nurture. We are surrogate mothers in their eyes, we take care of all of their needs.A bit romantic perhaps :rolleyes: Look at the Wolves, whenever the hunters come back the whole pack make a big fuss, so IMO it proves that as well as the practical things that they need, they also thrive on and need love.

Ella is a real tart and will take affection from nearly anyone, although she adores OH, she isn't like Murf, who will go off his food if I go away. It's an interesting concept, Its certainly true that the more you put into a dog the more you get back IMHO. I didn't get Murf until he was 4months old, so in my experience the age you get them has nothing to do with it. I won't go on holiday without Murf, I couldn't bear to leave him. If I have a whole day out I am desperate to get back to him.

I can't imagine life without him and have been thinking about getting another of the same breed, but I am put off by the fact that it may spoil our relationship. I already feel guilty, because although I love Ella, its not the same depth of feeling that I have for Murfee, does anyone else have a secret favourite?

Hudson is not like that at all but Delta is, she genuinely seems to be *happy* to see us and to have fuss and attention. Delly *kisses* as well, something Hudson has never done :)

Hudson can take it or leave it, he will say hello by WOOING but then thats it. He almost tolerates us fussing him up :rolleyes: :D

I've always wondered about this idea that animals don't have feelings/emotions comparable with humans, after all we are animals too :D :D so why should they be so much different to us?   I'm not saying that they have identical reactions to humans, after all not all humans respond to the same things in the same manner (eg. how would 20 different people define love?) but that they are capable of feeling similar emotions in similar circumstances.  Not so much anthropomorphism as observing our fellow creatures and acknowledging that they have similar needs and desires (eg. food, comfort, security, ) and respond in a way which we can identify with.

As far as my dogs are concerned I have found different breeds (and different dogs of the same breed) to be completely different in their approach to life, I had a Tibetan Terrier once who was so adept at living with us humans that he seemed like a small child - he was so eloquent in his communication it was a privilege to know him :)

The interesting thing about animal emotions is that in fact, we really don't "know" how far those emotions go. It's like the point i raised recently about how human babies were operated on without anaesthetic until very recently, because it was assumed/believed by scientists that as they could not talk nor react in the way an adult can, it therefore could not feel pain. Barbaric yes, and in fact this is the way many of us look at animals eg tail docking. It is the same.

Anyone interested in discovering more about the role emotions play in the lives of animals( and scientists these days are finding that in fact emotions are so important to animals that it is hard to say that they do not feel at least a large portion of what we do because it relates to their survival) could check out a paperback by Jeffery Masson called "When Elephants Weep: the emotional lives of animals".  It's written in a scientific way and i suspect that any one who reads it will be very surprised at the overwhelming evidence to show just how close emotionally to us  animals really are.

Lindsay
X

What a lovely post this is... dog lovers who can share how they feel about their dogs, with out being labelled as weird by non doggy people!!

Emmy is my first dog. We had dogs when I was growing up at home, of course I loved them dearly, but having my own dog is totally different. I work from home and we are together most of the day unless I pop out to the shops or go out in the evening. She is like my shadow. My friend. Totally dependant on me. She hardly ever leaves my side and at night she will cuddle up to me on the sofa, her head in my lap. I love her like I never imagined I could love a dog and it scares me sometimes to think of the inevitable! I don't think I could ever have another. We have such a special and strong bond I'm scared I would never find this again with another dog and they would always compare to Emmy.

We raise our puppies, train them, feed them, walk them and take care of their health. We schedule our life around our dogs, live with muddy kitchens and all the other naughty things they might get up too!.... I'm sure they love us, why else would we do it!!

Bramble is most definitely hubby's dog :D He was the only one that Bramble wee'd on every night when he came home from work :D (Fortunately has stopped now) Bramble sticks to hubby like glue when he is home and whines terribly if he can't be with him :D When hubby is at work, Bramble is quite content at home - but we have trouble if hubby is late home from work or, horror of horrors, away for a couple of days. Bramble lays by the front door and pines :(

Tara seems to have become more attached to me since daughter has gone to uni (and son). She is happy to be with any one of us tho' but will sit in the rain/snow/frost in the garden, by herself - quite happily - if the mood takes her :D

Very different dogs :)

Daisy

So what is it that makes dogs sooo different from other animals - that they show what can only really be described as "canine love" for their humans? After all, cows are domesticated...but you don't see one of them going mad with joy when the farmer walks in the field :D

You don't know much about cows then Chloe, in big commerical herds there is little relationship between the cattle & the farmer,but smaller farms are a different matter, the farm that is my nearest neighbour is organic & his suckler herd cows certainly know their names & when he goes to the field to call the non suckling cows in for milking they certainly react to him. One old cow used to come & put her head on your shoulder if you called her-she was called Molly & was a jersey When Eric showed her in her youth he never really needed to halter as she followed him like a puppy Hw wept bulets when she died of old age-he never had the heart to send her to slaughter when she got past breeding & milking age & she lived in the paddock next to his house with his horses, She died one night & he found her in her stable Can't remember how old she was but it was over 20 & her face & head went completely white

I actually wonder if dogs are that different... is it,could it be that they are just easier to live with because they can be housetrained and because they can "do" things for us? and because they are so easy to understand to an extent with wagging tails etc?
My childhood guinea pig used to run into my arms when i went to see him (sadly he was kept on his own for ages because of a misunderstanding) and also would do tricks for me such as jumping over a house brick on command for a piece of bamboo! :)

My pigs i have owned as an adult have never been so charming or responsive, but maybe that is because they all have each other and so the relationship is not so personal ... with dogs, we do tend to have very personal relationships with them even if we have several and tend to expect something back from them. I know i put in more time with my dogs than i do with other animals i have had. Maybe that's got a lot to do with it - time invested and 2 species thus getting to know each other a bit better.

Lindsay
X

You know that vacant expression on a cows face when its chewing grass? - Well I think that may have something to do with their lack of enthusiasm for seeing the farmer. It's hardly a case of "Wahoo, I'm in for another teat squeeze", or, "Off to market we go," is it? I don't think cows are exactly the animal equivalant to Einstein are they? :D 

LOL!!! :D How do you know they don't enjoy a teat squeeze? LOLOLOL

Maybe in the old days they did, but now they are hooked up to those machines. Not quite the same is it? I bet years ago, the cows went running up to the farmer, fighting to get to the front of the queue, little tails swishing away, big eyes gazing adoringly. Now they get stuck to a pump and the farmer goes to play with his sheep instead. Did I really say that? ;-)

If a machine can do the job, don't knock it! (I think I'll stop my analogy, because it was heading for the smuttier end of town! ;) )
:D

LOL JG!!!

Thats one imagination you have there Claire - do you let it out often? LOLOLOL :D

Yes Chloe I do, too often, and it's got me into sooooooo much trouble. :p Can be embarrassing too, especially when someone says something and my mind takes me off somewhere bizarre and I can't stop laughing. It leaves everyone else wondering what's so funny. Fortunately most of my friends are used to it by now. :D

You've never had your chesticles full-to-bursting and been longing to feed your baby, have you? ;) The relief felt when the pressure is eased is just wonderful! I bet cows feel just the same. :D

And walking round the shops with a wet T-shirt :D :D Cows don't have that problem tho' :D

Daisy

Oh hell, reminds me of the time Stephen said he would look after Sophie (2 months old) whilst I dived out to the local Sainsburys......lovely thought :) Then, as I was walking around, examining the frozen veg, a baby started crying .......and my *chesticles* suddenly turned on ARGHHHHH! Boy, did I rush home :D

Chesticles I have never heard that before (thankfully) :D

Bet you don't forget it in a hurry though ;) :D

Chloe,

I think without a doubt they have that loving bond.  I sometimes can't go for a piddle without 2 of my girls.     

im so in love with flynn! even when he burps in my face!!!! i think he prefers me to other people,although he is a friendly dog.
nellie & i are best girl pals & are on the same wavelength.she isnt interested in other people genarally.

tara is anybodys!!!!!

"sometimes"? Willis always comes in with me and has a drink of water out the tap whilst he's waiting LOLOLOL

Edit: does that make me a bad person? :D

Yes

HTH HAND

:D

Chloe, Wait for it ROFLOL.

My bidet is next to the loo, when I sit down they imediately go to the side of the bidet and wait for me to turn it on :-))))   Even the cat.

I will post later, but my girl is quite poorly , I had to have a emergency c-section on wednesday night , she has 2 puppies both are still alive but are very week. Boy and girl, the boy is the weaker and my heart stops everytime I touch him incase he is gone.   She was bleeding badly although her puppies were not due and were not even in the "On there way position" so we opted for a section.

Your post made me very weepy when I was looking at my little lady. She loves me to death and trusts me so much she would let me do anything to her. I feel really bad for her just now. I hope one survives even just for her. :-((

Pam

Hope that they'll all be fine :) Fingers crossed

Daisy

Gosh Pam hope things get better :) I am sure things will work out ;) i remember when Mars had a CS with her litter. It was terrible and we lost three pups but thankfully the other five all survived and Mars recovered well.

I have got a very special bond with all my girls but especially Dudley. There is just something about her that I can't explain! She is the peskiest mutt and is always up to no good but she just 'does something to me' :D (funny as we have Paul Weller playing the excat song :0 )

Let us know how things go with all the littel ones

Lucy
xx

Sorry for changing the subject on your post Chloe.

My little puppy dog has went to Rainbow bridge just about 1 hours ago.  2 1/2 days old. Little sausage.    Most of you know I have only had a couple of litters and this was my first death so have been a bit upset. Anyway the little girl is still going and she seemed to be stronger from the beginning. She is looking a little better tonight, fingers crossed she survives.

Just thought I should let you all know.

Night Pam

Sorry to hear about the little boy but hope the little girl gets stronger, she sounds like a little fighter ;)

Lucy
xx

Pam, I wish you all the luck in the world with your little lady, I will keep everything crossed for you and her, it must be hard,  xxxxx.

Sending lots and lots of positive thoughts from me and Willis (who is currently in the loo trying to turn the tap on - he doesn't *do* drinking from a bowl) :)

LOL Chloe, mine has just mugged my daughters bath, ie, got his paws and face in, resulting in a nice, cold wet beard. Why drink from a gigantic water bowl when a bath will do :D

My dogs have come and gone and more will come, and I love them all to bits, but Megan was and still is the most precious dog I have ever known. She virtually glued herself to me. I would be watching TV and she would press full weight up against my face and if I tried to move her she would shove back, I could never go anywhere without her. Loo, shower, bath, anywhere and she was there. She came to work with me and when shopping would sit in the drivers seat waiting for me coming back. When I was working in Ediburgh I stayed in a residential caravan during the week and the tiny little shower cubicle only had a curtain, everytime I went for a shower she came into the cubicle with me. For 9 years we were together literally 24/7. I have never missed a dog the way I still miss Megan. The emotional bond between us was immense, and they say dogs have no emotions.

I think there is a special bond with some dogs but I don't know why or how it develops. I've had many dogs. All have been loved and cared for, all have been affectionate but some have been that bit more special for various reasons - one because she was so intelligent and had such an evil sense of humour, one because she was so good natured, one because he is so innocent and sweet, one because she talked and had long conversations (with my husband - she chose to be his dog).

I've felt privileged to share my life with every one of these dogs, including the more 'ordinary' ones. But some of our friends in the US have a term for what I'd call a 'one in a lifetime dog'. They call it their heart hound. My heart hound has been gone for 8 years now but barely a day goes by that I don't think of her. I can't explain just what the bond was but it was stronger than I've even had with more than a tiny handful of people. I can't help hoping that there could be 'two in a lifetime' though I doubt it. I do know that the 12 years I had with her was something out of the ordinary and a joy to treasure.

I have a great bond with Saffy - she is like my shadow and wherever I sit, she is there at my feet - even when I am cooking in the kitchen!  I am the only one who walks her, but she won't even let anyone else hold her lead if I am there (makes it quite difficult at times).  She loves all my children, but if I allow my eldest to hold her lead on part of the school run, she jumps up at me and nudges me until I take it back.  She loves cuddles and will lean against you to be really cuddled (and will do so for as long as you let her).

With regard to other animals, I really do think you get exceptions in alot of species.  I am sure many of us have had that one 'whatever' that has been just a bit different to the others and more friendly, etc (as with JGs chicken).  I have found that if you put in enough time, etc, with the 'special' animal, you can develop quite a bond.  We had a rabbit once that I am sure thought it was a dog!  It lived in the house (was litter trained), came when it was called, loved a cuddle and was very playful.  It used to have mad half hours chasing the washing on my rotary line!

As a child, we had hamsters and budgies, etc and I had 'special' ones of each of them that seemed to be more 'loving' and acted 'out of character' for what you would consider 'normal' behaviour.  I think it is because usually these animals are put in cages, not handled enough and so do not want to be handled or petted.

I think my closest bond though was with a cat I had in the past.  My husband always fed the cats, but 'Astro' was my cat.  He loved a dance (being held while I jumped around the room :)), and was always with me, or waiting for me to return from work.  I really loved that cat and I believe he loved me :).

Just to add, I think animals are like people and there are only a very few that you have a really close bond with.

Fiona

If it looks like love, if it sounds like love, if it feels like love ... then it probably is love :-)

It's funny how only other doggy people can understand the bond and love between you and your dog(s).  Most of my friends (and some family) think we are completely mad because of the way we treat our dogs, but in my opinion if you can't love a dog and show love to a dog, you shouldn't have one.  I believe our dogs love us, ours have always shown us unconditional love, trusting us with their lives.  I feel sorry for non-doggy people, because they really have no idea what they're missing.  I know my life would have been much emptier without my dogs in it.