Having worked with dogs for more than 25 years, I have always been interested in the question: Why do humans love their dogs so much? Is it because they look so cute? Is it because of their unconditional love and loyalty that makes a dog wait for 10 years for his master, like the Akita dog waiting for Richard Gere’s character in the film “Hachiko,” which moved millions of dog lovers worldwide to tears? Do we love them because they resemble us? Do we love them because they help us, like Lassie in the movies? Do we love them because we constantly misunderstand and overestimate them—for example, assuming they feel guilty when they are merely reacting to our behaviour?
We have not yet found the final answer, but we are getting closer. From a scientific point of view, it makes sense to divide these questions into ultimate and proximate questions.
Domestication
“Ultimate” means that we are talking about evolution. We ask how a dog’s particular trait has evolved during the process of domestication. As I said above, we love dogs because they look cute to us. Juliane Kaminski and her colleagues investigated why dogs are adopted from shelters. They filmed 29 Molosser-type dogs for two minutes, coding their behaviour in detail. Then they assessed how quickly these dogs were adopted by humans. The only behaviour that influenced this was when the dogs raised their inner eyebrow (Waller et al. 2013). Those who did so were adopted more quickly. It is obvious that we find it cute when dogs raise their eyebrows and wrinkle their foreheads. This trait evolved during domestication. Kaminski and her colleagues discovered that wolves cannot raise their inner eyebrows because they lack the necessary muscles (Kaminski et al., 2019). It seems that, for some reason, we preferred dogs that looked cute, giving them a selective advantage so they could breed. In this way, we helped create the dogs we wanted to love.
Individual Development
Proximate questions focus on the individual development of a dog and its owner. So why do I love my dog, even though she sometimes causes big trouble, for example by snapping at people, which is terrible for everyone involved? The answer is that, like most dog owners, we have developed a close emotional bond that is reinforced by physiological mechanisms. The most well-understood mechanism is the increase in the bonding hormone oxytocin in both owners and dogs. This hormone is released when owners and dogs look at each other or touch each other (Nagasawa et al. 2015). Interestingly, this hormone is also crucial for the bond between mother and child. So one reason I love my dog is probably because she loves me back. Thus, Hachiko desperately waiting for Richard Gere’s character is not a fairy tale; indeed, it is assumed to be a true story.
Pet Parenting: Is It Possible to Love Your Dog Too Much?
While there are some similarities between the bond between a dog and its owner and the relationship between a mother and her child, of course, they are different (Gillet & Kubinyi, 2025). In the Western world, at least, the proportion of dog owners who refer to their dogs as children is increasing, ranging from 16 to 37 percent. They regard their dogs as little humans, open social media accounts for them, feed them homemade treats, and celebrate their birthdays. While this may sound amusing and is probably harmless, this humanisation can also lead to serious problems. For example, there has been a growing preference in recent years for brachycephalic dog breeds with flatter, more human-like faces, such as pugs and French bulldogs. However, these breeds are prone to numerous health issues. French bulldogs, for example, have an average lifespan of just 4.5 years, compared to 11 years for the dog population as a whole (Teng et al., 2022). These brachycephalic dogs are often carried around, preventing them from exploring the world, which can lead to behavioural problems. Another related issue is the misinterpretation of canine behaviour, including overlooking signs of distress and aggression.
Thus, it is OK to love your dog, and even scientists use this word now for the close relationship we form. But please love him or her for what s/he is, a social canine companion, and not a furry baby.
