My dog licks me. Does that mean that he loves me? Oh, and he loves to snuggle up next to me whenever he can. Is he transmitting his affection to me? Surely wondering how furry dogs show affection towards their owners is a very common and recurring conversation among all of us who enjoy doggy company.
Dogs, just like people, follow a certain pattern to show their affection . The experiences, the experiences and the own personality of each one make the acts of love towards us different in each one of them . However, there are patterns that most furry people follow to express their affection. Let’s see some of them:
- Looks you in the eye . When we cross our gaze with our dog, we are creating a very powerful emotional bond, a kind of connection between the two .
- He lies next to you because he feels protected and cared for by you. That the furry ones sit on the sofa and rest their heads on our lap is synonymous with maximum confidence, security and affection .
- When they give you their favorite toy , in addition to wanting to play with you, it is synonymous with trust. Dogs are very territorial animals and if they give someone their most precious object it is to show affection and appreciation.
- They sleep next to you to feel protected. It doesn’t matter how they sleep as long as it’s by your side. Dogs, when they are with more animals of their species, sleep in packs to seek warmth and protection, it is only necessary to see the puppies snuggle when they are sleepy. For this reason, when they are at home and want to sleep next to you, it is because they are looking for precisely that warmth and that protection with you.
- The tokens of joy they give us when we get home . It does not matter if you have spent a whole day out or that you have just gone out to buy bread. They perceive it as a long time that they have not been around you. So when they hear the key they start the party. A demonstration of affection!
- They settle on your feet . If cats rub their bodies with ours to impregnate us with their scent and mark their territory, dogs do the same by sitting on our feet.
- If they lick you and ask for pampering, it is one of the most explicit signs of showing you that they love you. In addition, if they lie on their stomachs for you to caress or tickle them, it is a sign of full confidence.
- It wags its tail non-stop or it smiles at you . With the continuous movement of his tail he is showing you his emotion.
We must emphasize that last point, yes, dogs smile ! although it is incredible. Apparently, by living with humans they have managed to imitate a gesture similar to ours. They say that the angle of the mouth becomes more pronounced and stretches almost from ear to ear.
The doggy face is very complex and understanding non-verbal language takes time. Many have been the experts who have ventured to study it. In the United Kingdom, a series of researchers has delved into the subject by creating a research system known as the “ dog facial action coding system” by means of which they try to relate the movements of the dog with the emotions that they can describe.
We also met other scientific studies dedicated to this, such as those by the Nobel prize for medicine Konrad Lorenz, who, with his book Man Meets Dog (Man meets dog) devotes extensive paragraph to the way they smiling dogs “when smiling, the dog opens its jaws slightly and shows its tongue a little” .
But that is not all! The ethologist and expert in canine behavior Patricia Simonet , was curious to know if dogs … were capable of laughing ! He discovered, through a method and empirical study of 15 puppies, that when a dog is having a good time it does not sound the same as if it is in a more neutral situation. That is, it emits a different sound that could be considered as a laugh. “To an untrained human ear, the dog’s laugh would make a sound similar to a hhuh, hhuh,” Simonet commented.
So dogs continually send us signals to show us their affection and unconditional love as well as their happiness and joy.
