Empathy In Dogs: A Healing Power

Science has been able to demonstrate something that many of us already knew:  empathy in dogs. Dogs connect with the emotional state of people almost immediately. However, their capacity goes a little beyond that fascinating connection, because they also demonstrate the express and altruistic desire to offer comfort, to alleviate emotional anguish and sadness.

We are aware that anyone who has one or more dogs will agree with the conclusions reached in the study carried out at the University of London on this subject. We know that these four-legged friends, wet noses and faithful eyes, are instantly in tune with our joy and, above all, with our sufferings. That is why they do not hesitate for a moment to lick our hands, to throw their favorite toy at our feet or to sit on our lap like flattering children who seek to wake us up with a smile.

Empathy in dogs, that skillful reading about our moods actually has even more surprising nuances that they explain to us in this same work. An example of this can be seen in a very specific case.  Benjamin Stepp is a veteran of the Iraq war who lives with a beautiful Labrador retriever named Arleigh. This young man suffered a traumatic brain injury that every day, results in sudden attacks of pain that immobilize his legs.

Arleigh senses when these attacks are going to occur and goes immediately to his owner with a very specific purpose: to give him support, affection, reduce his anxiety and control his breathing so that the pain goes away as soon as possible. This relationship between the two is so fascinating that an ethologist, Natalia Alburquerque, is studying the case. It is known that dogs “smell” certain metabolic changes in our body that result, for example, in drops in blood sugar, epileptic seizures and, in this case, the arrival of pain.

However, one of the most astonishing aspects of all this is the fidelity and altruism of these animals. They do not want anything in return, their sense of protection and affiliation is so high that the mere fact of conferring relief and well-being already gratifies them, already satisfies them. ..

Emotional contagion in dogs, a primitive form of empathy

Ethologists and psychologists specialized in the animal world point out an important aspect. We cannot compare human empathy with empathy in dogs. In the latter case, he prefers to speak rather of “emotional contagion” , a very primitive form of empathy and which, according to Ted Ruffman, a psychologist at the University of Otago, could be compared to what a three-year-old child may have, for example.

It is also necessary to bear in mind that empathy is a complex psychological dimension where very sophisticated cognitive processes are put into operation. In empathy in dogs, their ease of reading our facial expressions, our tone of voice and their natural attitude to emotionally “catch” our own states is striking. However, in the event that this emotion is negative, they immediately initiate voluntary behaviors to confer help, support and well-being.

This last aspect is undoubtedly a topic that has always fascinated experts. The reason why dogs show such a strong bond with us can be found in our ancestors, in our most primitive past. 

Dogs and humans: a very old bond

• Having one or more dogs in our first social settlements meant being closer to nature, to its cycles and also finding more resources with which to survive: water, hunting, edible plants … In fact, we have multiple cave paintings where you can see this type of interaction.
• The company of these animals gave us a very relevant type of life satisfaction from very early on, shaping a bond where multiple biological mechanisms were involved.

This constant interaction started from those early times strengthened a sophisticated relationship where dogs did not take long to recognize our emotions and where we, in turn, learned to see them as one more member of our social groups. Empathy in dogs is a reality that has always been with us.

Just look at a dog to instantly smile

Our dogs will never tell us to take things slower. They will not recommend that we change jobs, that we give our partner another chance or that we let that friend go forever who brings us more problems than benefits. They will never recommend anything to you, nor will they judge or criticize any of your decisions. Your dogs will just “be” there, with you, giving you the best of themselves for nothing. Being one of the betraying behaviors of the empathy of dogs.

As curious as it may seem, it is what they have always done: living with us since our ancestors, the European hunter gatherers began to domesticate the most docile wolf pups that roamed their settlements in search of food. We made them ours and they made us theirs in an enduring and wonderful alliance. Hence, most of us cannot help but smile instantly when our gaze meets a dog.

To conclude, for someone to question the emotional power of dogs and their empathic ability is without a doubt an unforgivable mistake. Because there we have those anonymous four-legged heroes to whom we owe so much: the guide dogs, the dogs that daily help children with disabilities or dependent elderly people and in short, all those great friends whom we adore and do not doubt. in considering an indisputable part of our family.