Do you ever look at your dog and feel like they just get you? You’re not imagining it—many dogs really can pick up on how we’re feeling, and some breeds are especially good at it.
Newsweek spoke to Dr. Liza Cahn, a veterinarian, about the dog breeds that are most likely to read their owner’s emotions.
Unsurprisingly, three out of five have been ranked among the most intelligent breeds by Stanley Coren, Ph.D., professor emeritus in the department of psychology at the University of British Columbia and a renowned dog researcher. They are the border collie, poodle, and golden retriever. Other emotionally intelligent canines include Cavalier King Charles spaniels and Vizslas.
Cahn, who works at Embrace Pet Insurance in Cleveland, Ohio, told Newsweek: “Dogs with high emotional intelligence are ones that can really tune into human emotions. They are better able to recognize what their owners are feeling and are better equipped to react appropriately.”
How Dogs Pick Up on Feelings
Research has shown that emotional signals are often subtle, and animals may pick them up in different ways. Dogs can tell the difference between emotions shown through things like body language, facial expressions, tone of voice, and even smell. These emotional signals don’t just register with dogs—they can actually change how dogs behave.
Cahn said: “When an owner is happy, dogs exude exuberance, when an owner is sad, they provide a comforting body.”
Why Some Dogs Are Better at It Than Others
Cahn explained why some breeds are better at reading human cues than others.
She said: “Having a high level of intelligence to begin with really helps. It just gives some dog breeds the upper edge in understanding human emotions, but perhaps breeding plays a bigger role.
“Dog breeds that are bred to work closely with humans were carefully chosen for emotionally intelligent traits.
“For example, border collies were bred to herd livestock, so they need to be closely tuned into what their owners wanted and to understand when they were upset or happy with a job well done.
“Dogs that were bred for companionship, similarly, were chosen because they were able to comfort us partially be understanding when we needed it the most.”
Can Owners Train Emotional Attunement?
Another study conducted by the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Bari Aldo Moro in southern Italy looked at how dogs interpret emotional sounds like laughing or crying. This study played dogs recordings of six basic human emotions and measured brain side use, heart activity, and behavior.
Dogs used the right brain more for negative sounds (fear, sadness) and the left brain more for positive sounds (happiness). Their heart and behavior changes showed they’re genuinely sensitive to emotional cues in nonverbal human vocalizations. This suggests reading emotions is something that comes naturally to canines.
Cahn said: “Emotional intelligence can be trained to a degree. This comes through consistent positive reinforcement for exhibiting the behaviors that you want. It also comes through socializing a dog to many different situations so that they feel secure and comfortable when confronted with new things.”
References
Albuquerque, Natalia, and Briseida Resende. “Dogs Functionally Respond to and Use Emotional Information from Human Expressions.” Evolutionary Human Sciences, vol. 5, Dec. 2022, p. e2. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.1017/ehs.2022.57.
Siniscalchi, M., d’Ingeo, S., Fornelli, S. et al. Lateralized behavior and cardiac activity of dogs in response to human emotional vocalizations. Sci Rep 8, 77 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-18417-4
