Thinking - How Do Dog's Do It? Part Two

By Audrey Frederick

In the course of writing articles on cats and dogs, I have been asked many times, "do our pets have emotions?" My answer to that is a resounding yes.

Back in the "old days" it was thought that animals did not have emotions or any type of feelings at all, however, science has now proven, what we pet owners knew all along, that our pets do have emotions.

It has been said that our dogs are happy to see us because it means one of two things, you eventually will give them a treat or once you are home from work, dinner cannot be far off. Everyone knows dogs love to eat.

After many decades of work, scientists having spent time delving into neuroscientific research now understand that dogs experience emotions similar to that of their owners.

Dogs do experience happiness, enjoyment, affection, confusion, pride, embarrassment, anxiety, depression, anger, surprise and even such emotions as distrust and resignation.

The more positive emotions a dog experiences, the better it is at handling problem solving, coordination and social relationships with people and other animals. While negative emotions help protect a dog from situations that may be dangerous or threatening.

Interestingly enough, a dog's emotional brain structure is very similar to ours. Emotions in both humans and dogs are controlled by the limbic system, which is a complex part located in the center of the brain.

The limbic system is composed of several parts:

• The amygdala - a place where fear and aggression is generated.
  
• The hipppocampus - related to memory.
  
• The hypohalamus - the center for controlling and stimulating the secretion of hormones throughout the body.
  
• Parts of the cerebral cortex - which organizes behavior and contributes to pleasure.

The endocrine system is closely linked to the limbic system and produces and releases hormones, not only to the limbic system, but also to the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for the fight or flight responses.

This neurological connection brings forth-physical responses from your dog. It causes your dog to be happy and excited when you come home and the secretion of hormones may make your dog hungry or thirsty.

If you have a close relationship with your dog, you are able to see a reflection of emotions that are evident in your dog's facial expressions and movements. A wagging tail, excited posture and position of the ears and expression in the eyes will show you, how happy your dog is to see you.

Dogs have an uncanny way of imitating us with their facial expressions, it is easy to tell a questioning or not understanding look, a wrinkled forehead of a worried dog, the blazing eyes of an angry dog or the soft adoring gaze as our dog looks at us. Some people will swear that their dogs smile and laugh with them. It is possible, you know.

Dogs can use their voices to show emotion too, they can squeal with pleasure, whine to get your attention, and bark when annoyed. They can cry in pain and show frustration by whining and even sigh just as humans do, when bored or lonesome. All these actions and reactions are controlled by the limbic system.

Science has found that even tail wagging is more complex than just a movement for pleasure.

It seems that humans, dogs, birds, fish and frogs are left-right brained that means the left brain controls the right side of the body and the right brain controls the left side of the body. Our left brain is associated with positive reactions and the right brain with negative avoidance reactions.

So in tail wagging, it appears that happy tails wag more to the right side, strangers or cats cause the tails to wag only a little to the right and a strong or dominant dog appearing on the scene will cause the tail to move predominantly to the left. Why? Because the right brain is telling the dog to avoid this association if at all possible - the left side is showing a negative reaction to the other dog.

A dog's emotions can be labeled into two categories, one that produces beneficial responses and the other is negative response. The beneficial responses are things that provide good for the dog, like hunger, the need to learn and the desire to exercise, while the negative responses produce a loss of appetite, the desire to run away or the need to fight.

Happiness with their life is one of the most evident positive emotions a dog has. Dogs show appreciation for the most mundane things in their lives. In turn a happy dog is very beneficial to our health also. A bonding relationship, human to dog, lowers our blood pressure and our stress levels drop, while our dog benefits with good food, playtime and lots of affection from its owner.

One of the most instinctual emotions a dog has is fear, this emotion is embedded in the mind of a dog and has been forever. This emotion prevents a dog from doing many stupid things like jumping off a high ledge or running in front of a car.

Fear for the most part is a good emotion, as is provides preventive medicine, in the sense it protects the dog from many dangers and helps it to adapt to the environment it is living in.

However, there is a negative side as bad experiences can create negative emotions that in turn create behavior problems, which are hard to correct. Loud noises such as firecrackers or thunderstorms can play havoc in a dog's relationship with its family by creating behavior problems that they are unable to correct.

One thing that is hard for human dog caregivers to remember and to practice is not to comfort a dog if it is afraid of loud noises. The comforting you try to do will only reinforce the behavior at a later time, when it happens again.

It is said, that one of the best things to do, in an effort to calm the dog down is to wrap the dog, using a stretch type bandage around the chest and abdomen or a stretchy type shirt that is tight against the body. This quiets the dog down, as the body will respond by activating the sensory receptors in the skin and muscles. For some reason the wrapping raises the level of noise needed, to a higher level, in order to frighten the dog and thus the dog becomes calmer. I have not tried this, but it seems like an interesting idea and worth a try if you have a dog that is fearful of loud noises.

There is also a product called DAP, which is made up of calming pheromones, it is a synthetic formula, which reminds the dog of its days with its mother. This product can be used to help calm a dog afraid of loud noises and other fears such as separation anxiety or when a dog needs to stay at a kennel.

Another common emotion that dog's can suffer from is depression. Dogs who have gone through many changes in their life often suffer from depression. A loss of a loved one, a move to a new home or the addition of a new person in the family all can cause a dog to be depressed. The cure for this is lots and lots of love and attention.

If you dog is depressed, lots of walks, car rides and even a new puppy or other dog can help relieve the depression. Some dogs will and do suffer from grief for weeks and months.

Since dogs mostly live in the now moment, this type of depression will soon disappear. Once the feeling of sadness leaves, the dog will not remember it, as they do not think of the future nor do they live in the past, dogs are NOW creatures, just like we should try to be. Dogs do not fear old age or death, now that is a lesson we could learn.

The neurons in a dog's brain are continually creating new connections with other neurons and are stripping away other neurons, in response to whatever environmental changes are going on in a dog's life. What this means is that with treats, love and training, we can rescue a dog from any emotional trauma that it has experienced

Dogs and humans share many emotions and this is why we enjoy their companionship so much. Our views on life may differ and a dog's emotions may be short lived, but dogs can adapt to most any lifestyle.

The plasticity of a dog's brain and our knowledge of the dog's brain allows us to properly condition our dogs to accept the scary parts, learn new tricks and to enjoy life with us to the fullest.

If this article has been of benefit, please visit my web site and blog at http://www.cats-and-dogs-on-the-web.com