Do dogs know I'm a human?

Dogs and humans have lived side-by-side for millennia. Your dog does recognize that you’re not a dog. Dogs can clearly distinguish a species difference, says Dr. Wailani Sung, veterinary behaviorist and director of behavior and welfare programs at San Francisco Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). Humans and dogs smell different, look different, and behave differently—so when your dog interacts with you, they get a clear signal that you’re not a furless, two-legged version of them. In short, even if your dog lost their sense of smell, they could probably still tell you weren’t a dog—your two-legged stance and opposable thumbs give the game away. Dr. Sung says people don’t have the scent glands around their mouths or cheeks that would give them a more dog-like smell. So, it’s pretty obvious to your dog that you lack the natural canine perfume.

Dogs can read our facial expressions. Dogs can recognize six basic emotions – anger, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise, and disgust – and process these in similar ways as humans, with changes to heart rate and gaze. Dogs can smell our emotional changes. Dogs can smell the chemical changes that occur when we feel different emotions, such as happiness or anger, and this impacts their response. Dogs can hear the differences between our emotions. Studies have shown that dogs pay more attention to facial expressions which match the emotional state of an accompanying vocalization. What this means is that, like humans, dogs take into account the inputs from several senses to understand how a human is feeling and then respond accordingly. So, can dogs sense human emotions? Researchers would say the answer to this question is a resounding yes! Thanks to the numerous studies that have been conducted on this topic, it’s safe to say that dogs can sense human emotions – especially those of their close human companions.