Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash
From their love of affection to physical activities, dogs are similar to humans in various ways. Perhaps this is why they’re quickly emotionally connected.
Humans have taken home various animals and domesticated them to become their home buddies. Whether it’s for companionship or some workmate, they have forged a mutually beneficial connection for as long as time can remember. However, one stands out among this list of companions, championing the bunch for their owners’ deepest and fondest affection.
Dogs are known to be man’s best friend.
Despite the tight “competition” for the title, they have earned it fairly and squarely for their range of roles. From protectors to devoted companions, dogs have incredibly contributed to the enhancement of people’s lives. Their relationship runs deep and old, and affection for each other is more profound than people may have pictured. They have an unspoken chemistry, a compatibility like no other shared by different species — a shared history that runs for thousands of years.
Hence, it makes sense if studies establish how dogs are similar to humans.
Similarities And Differences
Beyond the fact that they’re intelligent species, is there a way that dogs are similar to humans?
Throughout their relationships, both have shown true compatibility. Despite belonging to different species, they’ve presented how well-matched and like-minded they are. Dogs behave intelligently to their humans’ commands. On the other hand, humans are also responsive and empathetic to how their fur babies are, even without proper communication.
Dogs and humans may be different in terms of appearance. But when they’re with each other, the latter’s first instinct is always to humanize the former. People interact with their dogs like they’re people. They talk to them like they can comprehend every word they speak. Others even dress and treat their dogs like children, an adorably human thing to do.
They may bark while humans speak and walk on fours while humans are bipedal. But beyond these differences, dogs are similar to humans in more ways than they’ve perceived.
These similarities are portrayed in Dogs with Attitude by Yvonne Bronstorph. Although the book comically humanizes dogs, it also shows how alike they are to humans regarding personalities.
In the story, five dogs go through their days thinking they aren’t simply pups but dogs skilled and adept enough to have different careers. One thinks he’s a soccer player, while the others believe they’re head hunters and army generals. Like their human counterparts, Yvonne highlighted their playfulness, friendliness, and intelligence in the story, similarly defining them as people.
While the book is a work of fiction, dogs in real life aren’t far from how they’re portrayed in these pages. They may not be skilled to be soccer players or generals, but they are also playful like their humans.
How Dogs Are Similar To Humans
Numerous studies have established how closely dogs are similar to humans. A recent one states that both observe and process postures similarly. Hence, they may also respond to behaviors, interactions, and advances in similar manners.
Apparently, dogs also have temporal lobes similar to humans, which evolved from primates. This means dogs are identical to humans in perceiving gestures and facial expressions. This explains why dogs can empathize and feel what their owners are feeling. It’s their means of communicating and gathering information for their interactions with people. They use these gestures and details to decipher social signals that prompt their reaction, likewise, behavior.
Like humans, dogs read facial expressions and communicate jealousy and other emotions, making them more human-like as they interact and surround themselves with people.
Dogs and humans also share the same traits that facilitate their interactions. Their openness and agreeableness are some of these common traits, allowing them to benefit and manage social cues and circumstances properly. These similarities govern a gratifying dog-human relationship. Their similarities in affection, intelligence, agreeableness, and energy foster better mutual and functional connections. This shows they’ve developed similar communication mechanisms that further bridge their connections and understanding.
They’re Indeed Man’s Best Friend
Their similarities with each other are what allow dogs and humans to foster an intricate relationship. How they perceive behavior similarly is why they’re equally empathetic, which further deepens their interactions and connections. Although humans can have other animals as pets, perhaps how they forge a bond won’t be similar to how they would with dogs. This doesn’t belittle other relationships but only proves how different and emotional it is with fur babies.
Dogs are similar to humans, and this is primarily due to the long-running history they have together. As close companions for centuries, they may have naturally developed evolutionary similarities that govern the profoundness of their relationships. In essence, they may be different at the anatomical and physical levels, but regarding reading cues and empathy, they may be more similar than expected.
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