Man and Man’s Best Friend: We’re More Similar Than We Think

We are more similar than we think and here’s a famous series of photos to prove it:

People who look like their dogs

Beyond the humorous aspect, however, freelance writer Jenny Holt, sent us these intriguing observations:

For millennia, dogs have been considered man’s best friend, despite us being unable to entirely explain why. We know that dogs came from wolves, and that wolves and humans teamed up roughly 33,000 years ago. We also know that somewhere along the road dogs became domesticated and are no longer just our allies but our therapists, our heroes, and our family. Yet, science may now be able to explain why it is we get along so well with our four-legged friends by shining some light onto the similarities between us.

Dogs Get Jealous

It’s been said that humans and dogs last shared a common ancestor over 100 million years ago, and, recently, a brain-imaging study between dogs and humans has discovered that there’s a surprisingly large similarity in how we process emotions. In 2014, a study proved that, like humans, dogs can feel jealousy. Researchers placed a dog and its owner in a room filled with random items, such as jack-o-lanterns and pop-up books for children, and an animatronic dog. Those dogs whose owners played with the latter showed signs of extreme jealousy. Believing that this fake dog was some rival, the dogs were more likely to push or touch their owner, attempting to get his or her attention, and some even snapped at the fake dog. One dog even forcibly got between the toy and his owner.

Dogs Dream

When a dog is sleeping they often scrunch up their nose, kick their legs or even bark and make funny noises. Harvard Medical School’s clinical and evolutionary psychologist, Dr. Deirdre Barrett suggests that, like humans, dogs dream of events relating to their day. When a dog is moving its legs, for example, the likelihood of it chasing a ball or playing fetch or running around after its owner is extremely high. Dr. Barrett adds that “since dogs are generally extremely attached to their human owners, it’s likely your dog is dreaming of your face, your smell and of pleasing or annoying you.”

Dogs Have Our Health Conditions

Although they walk on four legs, dogs have very similar physical characteristics. This means that they can suffer from the same health conditions as humans, from common colds to diabetes, arthritis to mumps. They can even get headaches! It’s believed that their headaches can be caused by allergies and sinus pressure much like ours. The Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published their findings when a Cocker Spaniel exhibited the same signs of having a migraine as a human: she was extremely sensitive to light and sound, didn’t want to be touched, and was sweating and irritable. The only difference was that she was unable to put words to her issue.

No wonder our four legged friends are our best friends: they understand everything we’re going through and, with their added ability of prompting our bodies to release feel-good hormones and suppress our stress hormones, they’re practically perfect in every way!

Lots of wags and thanks to freelance writer, Jenny Holt for contributing this post.

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