It’s a well-known fact that dogs and their owners have a deep connection, to the point that sometimes they start to look like each other. But did you know that dogs are also sharing their owners’ emotions?
According to biomedical scientist Dr. Karine Silva of the University of Porto, dogs are even more emotionally evolved than our closest relatives, the chimpanzees. They can experience emotions similar to their owners’ when the owners are displaying them.
“A study showing that pets, namely dogs, behave as ‘upset’ as children when exposed to familiar people faking distress, strongly suggests ‘sympathetic concern’,” Dr. Silva said. “Also, it has been reported that untrained dogs may be sensitive to human emergencies and may act appropriately to summon help, which, if true, suggests empathic perspective taking.”
