Regardless of the size of your dog, one thing remains the same and that is that they are considered man’s best friend. But have you ever wondered why this is the case?  There are many similarities between dogs and humans in how they process emotion and voice.   A dog can tell a lot by the tone of its owner’s voice.  It can tell when they are angry, excited, happy and afraid and they respond in kind to whatever tone they detect, much like humans do.

Many people feel that their dogs understand them on a level that others, even other humans may not. It is true that a dog will recognize when their owner is sad or upset or even not feeling well and will stay close to them. In the same vein, if the dog is feeling down, you may notice that they are clingy and wanting to be close to you.   Much like a best friend would!

Studies have shown the similarities between the human brain and the dog brain and show that dogs have the same responses to acoustic cues as humans do.  So what does this really mean?  The findings are pointing to the fact that while dogs will respond more strongly to other dog sounds, the sounds they receive from their human owners are being heard and responded to as well, and it’s not just instinctual.

In other studies, the theory has been tested as to whether a dog understood the human mindset enough to know whether their behavior was “naughty” or not.  The results of these studies are not 100% conclusive, but from the looks of it, dogs understand to some degree when they are doing something they shouldn’t be and the owners didn’t have to say a word.  Have you ever noticed that your dog seems to misbehave as soon as you have left the house or even appear to have left?  This may not be the coincidence that many thought it was.

This doesn’t mean that a dog plots to do naughty things, but what it DOES indicate is that the correlation between the dog’s mind and the human’s mind has a lot of similarities that makes communicating with the dog much different than communicating with a cat or other pet.  There is an understanding there that goes deeper than just coincidence or instinct and it doesn’t matter what size or breed of dog you have.

Does this mean that you can have long discussions with your dog and it will understand?  More than likely no, regardless of what it may look like. But what it does mean is that you and your dog share a lot of common factors when it comes to understanding emotion and it’s in that understanding that you develop a connection with your pet that is just as strong as the connection between friends.  Man’s best friend is an apt description for an animal that will stick by your side through thick and thin; recognize when you’re sad or lonely and who wants to be right there with you, night and day.