Do We, In Fact, Resemble Our Dogs?

WHEN I STARTED …

Photo by Sebastian Magnani

When I started this blog, the title seemed catchy and the question of whether owners and dogs look alike seemed like a novelty posting at best. I’d seen the photos done by artist Sebastian Magnani of dogs and their owners, their cleverness both entertaining and thought-provoking. And I’d seen artist William Wegman’s famous Weimaraner dog photos as early as the 1980s, in which he portrayed his dogs “as if” human. (I’d also seen his his video with his longtime canine companion, Man Ray, in which he corrects his dog's spelling test. Watching it reminds me of the way I used to talk to my baby doll when I was a child.)

But I never thought that, through blogging, I’d find a community for myself around dogs, a deepened interest, nor did I think I'd inspire outside interest in reading what I post. Yet from the moment I shared a dog interest with others—friends, family, researchers, owners, twitterers—I've been welcomed and furthermore given permission to share stories of ongoing canine researchers, dog breeders, or the personal anecdotes of owners that shed some light on why we love our dogs so much.

AND SO…

And so it’s time at last to answer that fundamental question that I ask: Do We (Actually) Resemble Our Dogs?

Psychology professor and author Stanley Coren, who writes the great post Canine Corner for Psychology Today magazine, says yes we do. He put the hypothesis to the test first back in 1999 with a study in which he asked Do dogs look like their owners? Coren tested 261 women on their preferences for long-eared, or framed dog faces (beagles, and spaniels) versus prick-eared dogs (Siberian Huskey, Basenjai). It turns out these participants showed a preference for dogs that looked like themselves. In fact, they significantly chose dogs whose facial framing resembled their own—women with long hair chose long ears, women with short hair chose prick ears.

Coren, a professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia, says this is a simple psychological affect known as the Mere Exposure Effect. 

 “Basically, this means that people like familiar objects more than things that they have not seen before,” he writes in the study.

So, if you look in the mirror every day (which we do) you are used to seeing a certain framed face, or nasal prominence, or large eyes, perhaps, you come to find it subliminally familiar (kind of like the way the names Bush and Clinton are in our 2016 presidential election).

From L to R, Ken & Max, Tina & Jackson, Dane & Phinneas, and the Baxters.

There are other studies as well. In 2004 a study done by researchers at the University of California-San Diego asked participants to match photographs of 45 owners with their dogs, both purebreds and non-purebreds, taken at dog parks. Participants successfully matched the purebred dogs with their owners. And In 2013 a study done by Japanese psychologist Sadahiko Nakajima, of Kwansei Gakuin University, also tested photos of 40 dogs and their 40 owners. When he placed special emphasis on the owners' and dogs' eyes, the pairs were successfully matched 80 percent of the time, a statistic well beyond what would be coincidence.

Facial similarities notwithstanding, dogs resemble humans as well in ability, intelligence, and awareness, too. According to Coren, dogs have proven themselves in testing to have about the same intelligence as a new toddler, meaning probably equivalent to that of a 2-year-old. In his book, The Intelligence of Dogs, Coren includes a 12-part Canine IQ test for dogs that measures their adaptive intelligence. Andrea Horowitz, in her book Inside of a Dog, spells out some of the dogs' abilities that, in my opinion, make them seem very like a 2-year-old, indeed:

• dogs explore with their mouth, and then with their paws. They will try to put something in their mouth rather than “size up” whether it will fit.
• dogs watch others’ behavior as a means of accomplishing something themselves; i.e., they imitate as a means to an end.
• dogs do not just imitate; they also understand the concept of imitate. Horowitz describes a study in which a dog follows its human through various tasks that include pushing a swing (the dog did it with its nose), throwing a bottle (the dog did it with its mouth), and walking in a circle around a person.
•  dogs have a preference for novel objects (neophilia), which means they will want the “new” toy over the old toy. This is why they frequently drop the stick they have to try and get the stick that another dog carries.
• dogs possess “theory of mind,” meaning they have the ability to understand that other creatures have different motivations from theirs. This ability, “more than any other skill, habit or behavior” writes Horowitz,  “captures what it is like to be a human.”

And one last thing I want to throw in. As happens between a parent and a toddler, gazing into the eyes of our dog, or participating in the “mutual gaze,” as it is called, causes the release of oxytocin. In both dogs AND humans. This is a real phenomenon.

BUT WHY ... 

But why is all this science about the human-dog bond, and the cognitive testing, happening now, when dogs have been our “domesticated partners” for maybe 14,000 years? Why are there countless books (and blogs) about dogs? Why do Sydney Coren, Andrea Horowitz, Julie Hecht, and others want to study them in relation to us? And why (I wonder) did I choose them as my topic?

Inter-species-wise, our relationship with dogs seems to be increasing in its complexity. When I was young, dogs were just dogs. They were valuable on farms as work dogs or in suburbs as playmates for children, and they were usually just one, the family pet. But nowadays, dogs are many more things to us, and consequently they have more significance.

It wasn’t until I read Alexandra Horowitz’ book last winter than I started to deeply consider dogs as beings unto themselves, and to believe that they adapted to domesticity because they saw something in humans that could benefit their species. I am sure many scientists find that crazy. But there has to be a reason that dogs come when we call, rather than following the call of the wild, and some equally deep reason why we’ve chosen to entrust them with sniffing out bombs to save our lives, while they’ve entrusted us with opening the refrigerator or cupboard doors to get them food they need but can’t reach. And why we continue to create more rights for them under the laws.

L to R, Kelly & Kazu, Corrine & Hazel, Kevin & Bruno, Susan & Rocco

Author David Grimm, in his recent book Citizen Canine, notes that dog and cat ownership has quadrupled since the 1960s, and our pet expenditures have more than doubled since 2000. That is pretty incredible, when you stop to think about it.

I don’t have the time to research why this has happened, but I think some things that have caused this dog uptick are a rise in leisure income, the phenomena of the single-person family, and the growth of the nation’s aged population. Dogs can make great alternatives to children, boyfriends, or girlfriends. Dogs are also good companions for those who are left alone when family members have scattered, and who are getting on in years. In essence, dogs somehow substitute for the other things missing because of these widespread social situations.

Back in the 1960s, I don’t remember such emphasis on making dogs more in our own image, either. But since our culture has changed, and we have begun to make dogs “family” members who carry more social responsibility, we have also started to show an interest in having dogs look more like us, act more like us, and, in essence BE more like us. That’s what we want, because I think it helps us be comfortable assigning dogs to these new roles.

I will use myself as an example. I’m an empty nester with a spouse who is gone four days a week. This summer I've watched my daughter's two dogs, and they have endeared themselves to me and my need for companionship, as I have nurtured them endlessly. After just six weeks, ask me anything about them and I can tell you as if they were my children. (Ragazzo is quiet in the house, but once he gets outside and sees other dogs, he barks and strains to get a sniff of them. Day-Ay, however, howls inside the house the moment she senses I am about to take her out.)

We are also a species who love to assert our dominance. I guess we get a thrill from imagining other animals in our image. That could be why we want to look like our dogs, or vice versa, and perhaps (of course we couldn’t know) our dogs want to look like us, too.

So, why not enjoy this century of the dog? Everybody is in the game. And I mean everybody. Even The New York Times. In February, it ran this Westminster Dog Show Look-A-Likes Quiz in the on line edition of the paper, asking do the purbreeds' owners look like their dogs?

Go ahead. Click on the link and take it. I know you want to.

Who can resist the fun of seeing if we do, in fact, resemble our dogs?

 

Abandoned Chihuahuas: "Someone Else Will Take Them"

It was 96 degrees today in New York City, and yet, someone abandoned three little Chihuahuas in my neighborhood park, Fort Tryon.
The dogs were found without collars in the dog run's holding pen, with a bowl of water and a note saying to call animal rescue. They were scared, huddling, and hot, as there was no shade. One of them was very young.
Let's hear it for those people who make up for the bad behavior of the "someone else will take them" people, and actually make sure these dogs got to a rescue before it got dark. Kevin Klepper is one of them. 

Thank you, Kevin.

Hey Dog Owners, Want to Share a Photo?

I started this blog seven weeks ago and already have begun to amass a nice collection of photos of dogs posing with their owners, mostly from locals in my neighborhood of Washington Heights, NYC. Those of you who read regularly might notice the change in my featured photo.

However, in keeping with the theme of my title, Do I Resemble My Dog?, I’d love to add even more. In fact, I'd like to add you and your dog’s photo to my site if you’d like to submit one. 

In the next week, I'll be exploring some research by Stanley Coren into whether owners and their dogs really do look alike. I've love to include some photos with the essay. So, send me a comment and/or email me a photo with the first names of you and your dog, and the state you live in, to doidogblog at gmail.com.

Keep in mind that the shot might have to be cropped, so the closer you and your pet are hugging, the easier the presentation. And who doesn't love to hug their pet!

Thanks for reading!

Scratch My Butt, Right There: Imagining How My Dogs Think

MALE DOG: Yaaawwnnn…stretch it out…oh yeah, scratch my butt, right there. 

Hey Human, it’s time to go outside! Let’s go! My Human is not moving. I see…oh well, what to do? What to do?  What was that? Oh, never mind, it’s just a…what’s that? Smells like those black and white blobs on the street…oh goodie, it’s the thing right there outside the window, making a coo coo. Maybe if I’m real quiet, I can sneak up on it. It’s so delicious looking! It must be dangerous. Why do its legs look skinny like that and how does it stay up in the air?

Here…we…go…shh…AAAH!! Oh no, my Human is moving. She is mad! She always yells at me when I go after donttouchthebird. Doesn’t she know I’m just keeping us safe?

Well now I’m hungry. Trot trot trot to the food bowl…yes, a handful of dry, crunchy stuff. Chomp chomp chomp. The taste isn’t bad, but dry!  My Human is cool, though, she puts some stuff, lap lap lap, in it to soften it up.

Alright! She is up! I gotta pee! Let’s go outside! Out! Out! Out! Come onnnn, let’s go!

“Sit, Ragazzo.”

Look at me, I am sitting. Look at me, I am sitting. Put the leash on, put it on!!  Okay, I can tell by your finger wagging that I am going to have to really contain my excitement.  Let me think about something really boring.  Sleeping.  I love to sleep, but it’s not very exciting (put my leash on).  Except (put my leash on) when I dream about (put my leash on) CHASING don’ttouchthebird!... which I can do now because my leash is on! 

I’m off!

FEMALE DOG: I love sunshine. Today I was relaxing in my favorite spot

behind the couch, secluded and bathed in sunlight. Who comes along but that littleone wanting to play again!  Won’t he ever stop? He was biting my leg and lunging at me, all while I was trying to rest. Well you know all that instigating really got me riled! I showed him who’s boss around here! Got him so tired, he had to go get lap lap lap. What a pup…

After putting him in his place, I decided it was time for belly scratches. I searched all over for my Human. Those hands…those wonderful hands that smell so different every time she pets me. So salty, yum yum. Once I found my Human, she wasn’t really paying attention to me, so I nudged her hands a little until she looked my way. Hey!  Look at me!  

My Human is simpleminded. All I’ve got to do is paw at her or pant a little and I can usually get my way. I let her think she is in charge—after all, she is my ticket to the outside—but the rest of us know who’s Top Dog around here.

Sometimes they lock me up when they leave, but I have none of it! Lock me up like my rambunctious male counterpart, I think not! I am more sophisticated than he.  Sometimes I run away for a little just to scare them! The other week I clawed through the screen on an open window and ran out when no one was home.

I always come back, of course. They give me extra pats and treats if they think they could have lost me.

How I Moved from Cats to Dogs, a Personal Narrative

Someone recently told me that there are more U.S. households that own dogs than cats (43 million vs. 36 millon). I guess there must be a reason why.

I was a cat person myself, once. When I was a kid, I was in love with cats. To me, they were sublime creatures. I recall one summer photographing a lot of cats on a family vacation. They captured aloofness in its finest hour. They knew how, in a pinch, to be cool, and walk away. I guess, in many ways, I felt like a cat.

That year, I was in love with a cat character in the Disney movie That Darn Cat. I pined for D.C. and wrote about him in my diary. I went to see the movie twice so I could watch him, aching for him to be my own. My brother and I weren’t allowed to have pets when we were kids, so I asked my mom to buy me a stuffed Siamese cat, and loved it as much as any kid could love a stuffed animal.

My first cat.

Apropos of a cat, however, I didn’t cuddle it tight and sleep with it. Instead, I would keep it next to me in the bed for a few moments and then put it up on the shelf, taking care to keep it groomed and in pristine condition.

It wasn’t until I left home for college that I had a chance to have a real cat—Gertie. She was white with pinkish eyes, and she was typically independent, somewhat moody, and prone to disappearing in the evening for long bouts of time.

In essence, she was like my college boyfriends.

What was it about cats and guys, I wondered, that they needed to be aloof and independent? The qualities I once admired in a cat, and even identified with, were now starting to bug me as I encountered the "commitment issue." 

Post-college, I dated a guy who was a dog lover. He had been raised with a brother, a sister, and a real (not stuffed) dog, and when he found and brought home our first dog, JoJo, his happiness was palpable and fun to watch.

Well, neither Jojo or Gertie were around very long (although the boyfriend was). Gertie went out one night and never returned. And you can read the fate of Jojo on my earlier blog. Nevertheless, I began to see the subtle differences between dogs and cats, and something began to dawn on me: dogs were better, more ardent companions.

My love of dogs decisively trumped my love of cats when I became a mother. While aloofness and independence might be cool for the single bohemian, for parents, the value of companionship and the institution of family interdependence take on more importance. For several years, we were an only-child family. When it was clear that wouldn’t change, I also thought about companionship for our daughter. I thought of a dog.

With our Yorkie, Jackie, our daughter suddenly had another little mammal in the house to love, one that jumped up and made welcome noises whenever she came home. There was another companion for her to eat with, to play ball with, to walk with, to go to the lake with, to sleep with, to take photos with, and even to dress up with at Christmas. Are these things a cat either could or would do? Probably not.

I’ve come to believe that the relationship between a person and a dog resembles that of parent and toddler, while the relationship between a person and a cat is more like two roommates. If a cat doesn’t like what’s for dinner, he’ll go out and get something else (for Gertie, birds). If he doesn’t like a visitor, he’ll disappear. And when he needs to wee, well, you better have a litter box.

I’m sure some cat owners feel passionate about their pets as a part of a family, but if for nothing else than the list of things dogs can do with humans and cats can’t, dogs are now my choice. I am officially a dog person.

But I still have my stuffed cat. For years, I have used it as a place on which to hang various and sundry mementos of those old, pre-dog romances. 

Interview with Julie Hecht, Manager of Horowitz Dog Cognition Labs, Barnard College

WHAT ATTRACTS YOU TO YOUR DOG?

Julie Hecht is the lab manager of the Horowitz Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College and the author of Dog Spies, a blog in Scientific American. She is a doctoral student in animal behavior and comparative psychology who has been working with Dr. Alexandra Horowitz since 2010 on the study of dog behavior and cognition.

I spoke with Hecht about their study “Seeing Dogs:Human Preferences for Dog Physical Attributes,” published in the March 2015 issue of Anthrozoös. Hecht, who is interested in dog welfare, said she and Dr. Horowitz wanted to better understand what attracts people to dogs.

Q. WHAT LED YOU TO DO THIS STUDY?

We were interested in the question of how and why people anthropomorphize dogs. We anthropomorphize everything—we see the human expression all over the place. With dogs, we make incredibly grand and in some cases aggravated attributions. You read such things in the American Kennel Club descriptions of dogs. (ed. Note: AKC describes a Pekingese, for example, as “regal in manner” and a Cocker Spaniel as “soft and appealing.”) You might [also] see a dog described as “large-eyed” and other attributes attached to the way a dog looks, instead of talking about how a dog behaves. But if a dog looks regal, that’s not telling you anything.

We wanted to test whether there are particular physical attributes that people are attracted to when they look at dog’s faces. So this is probably more a human study—except that the way humans make attributions to dogs can affect the human-dog relationship.

Q.  HOW DID THE STUDY WORK?

We took 80 image pairs of adult dogs—and they were all mixed-breed dogs—and we considered 14 different physical attributions, so described in the study. There were baby-like, or paedomorphic, features: Things like bigger eyes, a larger cranium, a wider forehead, space between the eyes. We also considered some more humanlike attributes, such as a smile, colored irises, or an upturn of mouth. Some other considerations were symmetry and the presence of piebald coloration.

Then we modified each image within a very small change so the two images looked nearly the same, but were slightly different. Each image pair presentation explored only one modified attribute. And we asked our subjects to choose which of the two images they preferred.

Which do you prefer?

Q.  WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME?

Ultimately, we found that certain infantile features—not all, though—were attractive to people, as were certain human features. The subjects tended to like dogs that had slightly larger eyes, wider-set eyes, colored irises, and the upturned smile, even though such a smile might not mean the same thing behaviorally as it appears. Dogs do smile. For example, when a dog is “smiling” or pulling back its commissure, a person might say that dog is a happy dog. But if its ears are also back but it is “smiling” it is a scared dog. Or if the ears are pressing forward, these are behavioral characteristics of an angry dog.

People did not prefer dog images with an enlarged (infantile) head.

Q. WHY DOES IT MATTER HOW PEOPLE PERCEIVE A DOG’S APPEARANCE?

As I said earlier, the way a dog looks can affect the human-dog relationship. Our report states it so: “Our research could have implications for dog welfare. A recent ASPCA study found that people often adopt cats based on their behavior while dogs are often selected based on their appearance."

"Animal rescue organizations can be cognizant of this phenomenon when presenting images of adoptable dogs. In line with the current study, animal rescue groups might consider incorporating preferred, salient features into their adoptable dog pictures—a picture of a dog with colored irises and a distinct ‘smile’ could be viewed preferentially. Further research could show whether aesthetic preferences might motivate potential adopters to meet a dog.”

Q.  I ASSUME YOU HAVE OWNED DOGS. WHY HAVE YOU DECIDED TO STUDY THEM AS WELL?

Yes, I’ve been a dog owner. I got involved in ethology, the study of animal behavior, because I think I just didn’t like the idea of taking what is known about animals at face value. And I got interested in thinking about animal welfare, now a guiding theme in all of my work.

In some ways, even this study can relate to animal welfare, because in some cases we are breeding dogs with exaggerated features because people are attracted those features. But the morphology of features we are breeding—because people are buying it—are not always best for the health and well being of the dogs.

To try to put dogs on the same page with humans is an incorrect assumption. They live in a different cognitive, social, and sensory world. And yet dogs are incredibly attentive to the people that matter to them. As a species, they really do integrate much better than other species—cows, pigs, chickens—on our terms.

Interviewing Julie opened my eyes to the need for more human-dog research. The Horowitz Dog Cognition Labs have their own web page where you can follow their past, present, and future projects and where you can even sign up to have your dog involved in ongoing studies. Thanks, Julie.