4 Sweet Signs Your Dog Is An Empath
Those puppy eyes hold a deep well of emotion.
Alvan Nee / Unsplash Dogs have been faithful companions for thousands of years, offering us love, affection, and their furry little tummies to rub at all times.
It’s hard to deny that dogs experience the full range of emotions, displaying how they feel with their whole selves. They wag their tails when they’re happy, whine when they’re in distress, and yawn when they’re holding tension.
Dog lovers know how connected and responsive their puppy pals can be, and research shows that dogs can sense emotions on an even deeper level than previously thought.
Here are 5 sweet signs your dog is an empath:
1. They’re drawn to kind people
Dogs have a strong sense of intuition. They know if someone means well or is trying to cause harm. They pick up on the energy that a person gives off, allowing them to read into the deepest folds of someone’s personality.
Dogs are protectors. They tend to alert their pet parents when they perceive danger. When they think something is wrong, they’ll behave in a reactive way — barking, growling, or raising the hair on their neck as an internal alarm system.
The fact that they’re so emotionally in tune also means they know when someone has a kind heart and a giving soul. It’s likely for them to be naturally attracted to those people, going up to them when they enter a new place, giving sweet, slobbery kisses, and asking for pets.
2. They tilt their heads when you talk
Another sign that your dog bestie really gets you is that they tilt their head to the side when you’re deep in conversation with them.
This painfully adorable move holds more meaning than just being cute. It shows that they’re listening to you and engaging with what you’re saying.
Maybe you’re telling them it’s time for a sniffy walk or a ride in the car or that their delicious kibble dinner is served, waiting for them to snarf it up in one bite. No matter what you’re saying, your dog is paying attention.
Tilting their head serves the same function as humans nodding. When a dog does this, they’re letting you just how much they love you, in their own special language.
3. They mirror emotions
A 2016 study that was published in the journal Biology Letters discovered that dogs can connect emotionally with humans and other dogs.
Scientists presented a group of 17 dogs with human or dog faces showing a variety of emotions: Happy and playful or angry and aggressive. They also played specific sounds to accompany the image, capturing a positive or negative tone. The results found that dogs can tell the differences between positive and negative emotions in people and in their pup counterparts.
If you’ve noticed that your dog shares in your happy moments and comforts you when you’re sad, you’re not imagining it. They really can tell how we feel, and they reflect those moments back to us.
4. They react when someone cries
A joint German and Hungarian study looked into how dogs react to outward expressions of distress from humans.
The researchers noted that dogs display socio-cognitive abilities unique to their species, which allows them to follow human cues, like pointing and looking longingly at their pet parent when they can’t reach their favorite toy or the snack you’re eating that they’d really love to share.
The study observed dogs as they listened to the sound of a crying baby, and the results proved how connected to our emotions they really are. When they heard crying, dogs’ cortisol levels rose, a sign that they were feeling stressed. This data suggested that they understand when a human's emotional well-being changes.
The dogs also showed signs of submissiveness and alertness, furthering the theory that they know when we’re deep in our feelings.
So, the next time you and your doggo spend quality cuddle time together, you can rest assured that they’re just as sensitive as you thought and equally as obsessed with you as you are with them.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers social issues, pop culture and all things to do with the entertainment industry.