Do you remember Doctor Dolittle? the central character of a series of children’s books by Hugh Lofting starting with the 1920 The Story of Doctor Dolittle?
Well, he is a doctor who shuns human patients in favor of animals, with whom he can speak in their own languages.
He later becomes a naturalist, using his abilities to speak with animals to better understand nature and the history of the world.
I’ve always fantasized about having the same powers as Doctor Dolittle — mostly because the ability to know exactly what animals are thinking and feeling would be some really valuable super power to have.
11. Looking into your Eyes
When your dog stares directly at you, he/she releases a hormone called oxytocin which is the same hormone released by moms to their babies. When your dog is staring into your eyes, it is essentially giving you a big hug.
Go ahead, try this at home but don’t have a staring contest with your puppy or he/she will know something is not right. Relax your face. Just naturally maintain eye contact during your normal routine and see how your dog responds.
Do this throughout the entire day. You may notice them become more relaxed. Or their tail may wag faster than a propeller.
10. Playing with you
While it seems to come at the most inopportune times, our dogs sometimes get playful and try to wrestle with us. This is their natural way of playing! If you’ve ever watched your pup play with another dog, you’ll recognize he’s offering the same behavior to you. Doing a little wrestling with your pooch is certainly safe and fun, and will even give you a new game to play to keep your relationship strong!
9. Yawning When You Yawn
We know that yawns are contagious between humans, but did you know that dogs can also pick up this behavior? A study found that when humans echo another’s yawn, it’s because they’re empathetic, like sympathy pains. It’s impossible to measure if dogs are empathetic, but it’s possible that a dog yawning at the same time as a human happens because the dog has bonded with that person. The study also found that dogs were more likely to yawn when their owners yawned, as opposed to a stranger.
8. Sleeping With You
The dogs are known to be pack animals and even though some of their past pack habits are long gone they still like to take advantage of their buddies body heat but what’s especially important is that dogs are pretty vulnerable when they sleep therefore if they choose to snooze next to you this means that they trust you like no one else so don’t be afraid to let your pet sleep next to you because scientists totally approve according to a 2017 study published in Mayo Clinic proceedings sleeping with your dog can actually improve your sleep efficiency since having your pet nearby helps you relax more.
7. Wagging Their Tail
We often think of a dog’s wagging tail as a sign of happiness, but that’s only part of the truth. Dogs use it to communicate many different emotions, including happiness, fear, tension or even an imminent attack. Generally, the looser and more relaxed your dog’s tail is, the more relaxed they are. When your dog is happy, its tail will sweep back and forth in a friendly way, or even in circles.
5. Raising Their Eyebrows And Showing Their Tongue
A study published in scientific reports journal in 2017 showed that dogs produce way more facial movements when humans are looking at them they can raise their eyebrows to make their eyes look bigger show their tongue or even use their secret weapon that no one can resist puppy-dog eyes well that’s how I got hooked and just so you understand the true power of a dog’s love even the presence of food had no impact whatsoever on their expressions by the way another study that was published in the journal Science confirmed that your furry friend understands not only your words but the tone of your speech too so your dog certainly appreciates all your long loved monologues oh you’re such a good boy yet you are.
4. Cuddling With You
There’s nothing like cuddling with your dog scientists from as Abba University along with other specialists confirm that your dog enjoys the experience just as much for them pugs are a great stress reliever in addition petting and talking to your pet even for a few minutes boosts oxytocin levels for both you and your dog but if your dog isn’t that keen on cuddles it may because of the history and genetics of their breed after all some dogs were bred to be affectionate while others were taught to be completely different.
3. Leaning on You
We’ve all met dogs who do this and it’s easy to read as a sign of affection. Sometimes a dog will lean on a human because he is anxious, wants you to do something or take him somewhere. But leaning is also a symbol of affection. Enjoy it!
2. Letting You Touch Their Head
Dog training experts including Sara Bartlett from hound helpers limited are sure that you should never go over a dog’s head and try to pet them this way since they naturally perceive it as a threatening gesture so if you notice your dog is not only tolerating it but also enjoying the process and closing its eyes and appreciation they definitely love you back just remember not to do something like this when you meet a new dog for the very first time it’s better to give them a moment to feel a bit more comfortable in your presence.
1. When they calmly watch you leave the house
It’s easy to think that if a dog panics when you leave that it’s a sign that they love you. That’s not necessarily true, according to Gregory Berns. If your dog panics when you leave, it’s more of a sign that they have separation anxiety than that they love you. If a dog goes into his crate or is accepting of you leaving, i.e. they’re calm when you leave, it means your dog loves and trusts you and is confident that you will return.
11. Jumping on you.
While this is a typically undesirable behavior, dogs jump on people because they like them. When you come home after work or from running some errands, your dog is excited and wants to rejoice at your return! While you may find it better to teach your dog another, more acceptable way to share their excitement, jumping should generally be seen as a display of affection.