Every morning, as I prepare his food, our black-and-white lurcher, Ozzy, looks up at me with the warmest of eyes. He will give me the eyebrows too. The cutest of smiles. He will cock his head in expectation of food, and seems to know that I will give it to him, devoted as I am.
“Does he really love me?” I wonder, as he waits patiently for his tripe with his tail wagging furiously. Because sometimes I have the vaguest feeling I am being hustled. Like I am one of Pavlov’s dogs and he is Pavlov, conditioning me with cuddles and baby-faced eyes to do nice things for him.
Is this love or something else? Can dogs ever really love their humans like we love them? It turns out that questions like these have a rich scientific history, with an exciting conclusion that could forever change our relationship with dogs.
The story of dogs and emotions begins in the Victorian era, when the question sparked one of the first culture wars in history. It involved banners, placards and leaflets. It had burning effigies and vandalised statues, angry marches and speeches in packed-out town halls. At one point, hundreds almost fought in the street. They were ready to fight about whether emotions like love were uniquely human or common to many animals, particularly social mammals such as dogs.
This story is from the May 2022 edition of BBC Science Focus.
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This story is from the May 2022 edition of BBC Science Focus.
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