What do dogs think? | Discover how they reason

At this point, it is not known who was the first to point out that the dog is man’s best friend, but the truth is that it is one of the most well-known and true dog phrases that have ever existed. Without a doubt, we have all fallen in love with one of these furry friends at some point. Now, beyond the fact that they are beautiful and loyal companions, everyone who has had dogs has ever wondered: how does a dog think? And, if so, what do dogs think about? Well, at we have started to investigate a little about it and, although there is no universal answer, here we tell you everything you need to know about it. Come with us to discover it! 馃榾

What do dogs think?

For anyone who has had a dog, it is very easy to imagine not only that your dog thinks, but that he has long conversations with you. This is not something inconceivable, after all, centuries and centuries of evolution together have made both species understand each other very well in almost any context. In fact, well trained, a dog can understand what its owner wants to tell it by simply giving it a sign or a feint.

But what do dogs really think about? The truth is that this doubt has not only overcome us, But they have long worried scientists and experts in the field who have dedicated themselves to studying the intelligence of dogs.. Knowing a specific answer about how a dog thinks is very complex, but not impossible. There are signs that tell us what dogs think about:

1. Centuries of coexistence

The dog and the man are long-standing friends. In fact, the language of dogs is based on this friendship that has lasted for some twelve thousand years, from the moment in which, it is believed, the first wolf approached some men and these men, instead of scaring it away or attacking it, the threat, they offered them the remains of food.

Since then both species have coexisted in harmony. And not only that, but The joint development and growth of humans and dogs has made us understand each other better and better.. It is even within certain contexts that ideas about how a dog thinks have been developed; This made them begin to differentiate themselves from wolves and began to gain their own personality as a species.

Nowadays dogs are very different from wolves and, in fact, they do think. Complete studies have even been carried out to identify which dog breeds are the most intelligent., comparing hundreds of breeds based on their ability to learn commands and obey them. However, dogs know much more than that, and although most of their abilities come from pure instinct, they share with humans the ability to learn new things, although this ability is, of course, not at the level of humans.

2. Research on dog thoughts

As we told you above, multiple investigations have been carried out about what dogs think about. In fact, Neuroscientist Gregory Berns was one of the first scientists to become deeply interested in the thinking of his canine friend.so he trained him to stay still while they did an MRI to find out what he was thinking.

First of all, Berns managed to debunk a myth: that dogs only recognize through smell. Berns managed to discover that dogs are capable of recognizing us through sight. But the most interesting thing that Berns discovered was that The dogs were trained with high levels of emotional and social intelligence. Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive psychologist who suddenly found herself researching the behavior and curiosities of dogs, agreed on this point. She discovered that our dogs are not only extremely empathetic, but that they are also tremendous social manipulators, results that coincided with those that Berns had obtained. At this point it would be worth asking ourselves what dogs think of humans.

3. Do they love us or manipulate us?

So dogs not only possess emotional intelligence, but also social intelligence and even more, dogs can dream! This means that while dogs do not have the ability to solve complex mathematical problems, for example, but Yes, they are capable of interpreting things from the social context and acting based on them..

So what do dogs think about? Well, what these scientists discovered is that dogs have the ability to analyze things like our postures, the gestures on our face, what we say and even our tone of voice. In fact, it seems that this last point is particularly important to them, since They draw more conclusions based on the way we tell them something than what we actually tell them..

In this sense, knowing how a dog thinks is understanding that it is very capable of interpreting the context in which it finds itself and acting based on it. Another thing that these researchers discovered is that our caresses are very meaningful to them. and that, in fact, they remain in a similar status to food when it comes to giving them rewards.

4. What do dogs think about?

Well then, what do dogs think about? The answer to this question is complex and largely remains unknown. However, according to what we have managed to learn from these charming animals, Dogs have a great ability to interpret their environment. They understand what we say, but also the tone in which we say it, and the gestures we make while we say it. Dogs are even able to obtain, through smell, things like our mood, which is why they can even be good lie detectors.

However, this does not mean that everything our dog does is perfectly planned, since There are reactions and behaviors that are merely evolutionary traits that conservedlike the way he arches his face when apologizing.

What did you think of our article on what dogs think? Do you think your dog can manipulate you emotionally? We read you! And if you want to know more, we invite you to learn about the breeds of dogs that do not bark.