What Do Dogs Think When You Leave the House? Do They Miss You?

whether you're out of the house for several days on vacation or simply gone for a few hours to run some errands what does your dog think when you're away do they think you have abandoned them do they get confused and have you ever wondered what dogs think of humans do our dogs know we're humans or do they think we're just larger dogs keep watching for a thorough breakdown of what's Happening inside your dog's mind and what your dog thinks when you're gone what your dog thinks when you leave the house depends on your dog's relationship with you it also depends on if your absence is part of a regular routine in general leaving the house can cause separation anxiety in dogs research suggests that 8 out of 10 dogs find it hard to cope when left alone yet half won't show any obvious signs and so it can be easy for owners to miss dogs are social animals in the wild they do everything together and they are loyal to the pack dogs are not solitary animals and their desire to stay together and beside their owners is instinctual therefore they become upset and stressed when they are separated from their Human family that said if you frequently leave the house to go to work or school your dog learns your routine and will expect you to leave and return at a certain time they they might not be happy about you leaving for work every day but for the most part they will remain calm they will wait patiently for you to finish up whatever A mysterious human business you have to do and they will be at the door ready to greet you when you get home dogs learn schedules very quickly and they swiftly become accustomed to your routine although dogs don't wear watches they do have their own internal clocks and concept of time they can tell time by observing external cues such as daylight the smell of the air your behavior and internal cues such as their own hunger security camera footage has shown that dogs who have established a strong bond with their owners will settle in and nap for the most part while we are gone during the day with some periodic awake time to eat but when the time approaches when the humans of the house usually arrive home the dogs start waking and prowling around because they know you should be home soon but remember if you have adopted a new dog to your family and you leave them alone at home they may feel confused or abandoned because they are yet to become accustomed to your schedule being left alone can be very stressful for a new dog your dog will miss you and wonder where will their next meal come from how will they need to get water and worry they won't have companionship and the other Securities you provide them when their anxiety is heightened it can lead to destructive Behavior such as chewing your furniture they may wander through the house constantly whining and barking looking for someone to answer them some dogs will even dig the floor and try to find a way to escape do dogs know that we are not dogs even though dogs come in a wide variety of body shapes and sizes dogs can tell instantly whether they're interacting with another dog or a human Studies have found that dogs have a mental category for humans if they identify a creature as falling in that category they treat them differently dogs can even differentiate between dogs and non-dog animals by visual observation in a 2013 study researchers at the University of Paris found that dogs were able to separate the images of dogs from non-dogs what do dogs think about all day have you ever wondered what dogs think about dogs spent a lot of time relaxing snoozing and lying around what do dogs think about when they're staring longingly out the window what about when your dog is sleeping next to you and staring at you scientists believe the way dogs think is probably very different from the way we do we humans have many structures that help us interpret the ideas and thoughts we have but dogs don't for example dogs do not have language because they don't have the wernick a language processing center in their brain so they cannot learn and comprehend language dogs can associate words with memories but their minds are not wired to use language the same way as people without the ability to understand complex language it becomes impossible to have complex thought and internal monologue think about what you are thinking about when you are not thinking in words in the absence of words our thoughts tend to become unconscious and non-verbal feelings the small amount of scientific research out there on dog brains leads us to believe that dogs can only think subconsciously they can draw upon memories to guide future behavior however they do not come up with their own thoughts or ideas about a situation therefore when your dog is chilling out they are not thinking about anything in particular but in that moment if you change your dog's surrounding with a stroke a new toy or some food your dog will then use its working memory to link this scenario to a previous experience do dogs know how long you've been gone Studies have been conducted on whether dogs can judge how long their owners have been gone one experiment in 2011 conducted by Swedish researchers placed cameras that recorded how dogs reacted when their humans were away for half an hour two hours and four hours the experiment showed that dogs greeted their owners with greater excitement when their humans left them alone for two hours as opposed to just half an hour which suggested dogs can indeed tell the difference between these times however dogs did not react differently when their humans were gone for two hours versus four hours what this tells us is that dogs feel time differently to us dogs do have some form of time sensing capabilities however they can't actually tell how long you have been gone in a human-like sense while your dogs do have some concept of longer versus shorter time spans they won't understand exactly how long you were away do dogs really miss us when we are gone animal cognition scientist at Emory University trained a group of dogs to willingly go into an MRI machine and stay there so we can study their brains and behavior scientists gave the dogs 5 cents the scent of a familiar and strange human the scent of a familiar and strange dog and the dog's own scent interestingly when the dog smelt the scent of a familiar human the caudate nucleus of their brains lit up a region associated with positive expectations and rewards another study published in behavioral processes looked at how dog's Behavior changed around people with different levels of familiarity in one of the experiments scientists put dogs in an unfamiliar room with three human participants their owner a familiar person and a stranger when the human participants left the room scientists observed that the dogs would wait behind the door that their owner went through and not the other humans while research is ongoing combining the knowledge of dogs loving their humans and the studies we have leads to the belief that dogs do in fact miss us when we're gone what do dogs think about when they stare it all depends on what the dog is staring at if your dog is staring at another dog they might not be thinking instead they are staring to assert dominance if your dog is staring at you that's a very different story more often than not dogs watch you to understand what you're doing dogs take an interest in what their favorite humans do watching people is how they gather information about our actions sometimes they are waiting for us to do something that will impact them like picking up the leash to take them for a walk or to perform a specific command like sit and earn a reward dogs also stare at our eyes to express love just as humans stare into the eyes of someone they adore dogs will stare at their owners to express affection in fact when dogs gaze into their owner's eyes a bonding hormone known as oxytocin is induced in their brain when they stare at you your dog isn't actively thinking about how they feel about you but they are experiencing happy emotions as they happen therefore when your dog is chilling out and gazing into your eyes they enjoy the feeling of being in a safe environment with their favorite humans no thoughts head empty but contented and relaxed do dogs get bored dogs are intelligent animals and just like any other intelligent animal dogs need a certain level of stimulation in order to feel engaged if they go too long without that level of stimulation boredom is going to kick in dogs have the instinct to run explore and Hunt sleeping all day and not being able to engage those instincts can lead to feelings of boredom boredom can easily be resolved with enrichment activities to stimulate them both mentally and physically now that you know more about how dogs think let us know your thoughts in the comment section below does your dog seem to know your schedule and routines do they show symptoms of separation anxiety such as destructiveness when you leave the house share your own experience and make sure to subscribe to our channel for more videos thank you

Channel: Jaw-Dropping Facts

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Length: 9min 10sec (550 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 04 2023