Do Dogs Look Like Their Owners?

Do Dogs Look Like Their Owners?

There’s a statement that dogs look like their owners and actually it may have some scientific basis, experts from the USA indicate. Also, there’s another eye-catching observation. According to Michael Roy and Nicholas Christenfeld, psychologists from the University of California San Diego, the owner of a pure-bred dog is easily identified while the picture is different in the case of mixed-breed dogs. 

Try to look around while walking outside: don’t you find likeness between a dog and the owner? In fact, a number of experiments have been carried out that show there’s something realistic in all these remarks. Let’s find out why dogs look like their owners.

Do dogs really bear their owners’ features?

Sadahiko Nakajima, a researcher at Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan, once conducted research that proves the fact. Photos of faces were presented to unfamiliar people and as a result, 80% of them could identify the dog and the owner correctly. 

But the researcher was not limited with this try. During his next attempt, he covered the eyes of the dogs and their owners in the photos. This time only 50% of the participants could match them right. So Nakajima’s experiment clearly shows that eyes are a key factor when trying to distinguish the dog and the owner. 

Owners choose their dogs wisely 

Seems that nothing happens by accident. Other studies show that people usually tend to choose dogs based on their own characteristic features. In this way, they try to create a solid relationship with their pets. For example, if a person is keen on an active lifestyle he/she will most likely choose a dog that’s flexible and energetic. And this is how they build their families and cope with different challenges. 

How similar are dogs and their owners?

It depends on the type of person and the dog he/she owns. But studies have shown many times that this is not merely someone’s opinion or observation but a fact. 

Let’s have a look at a study by Applied Animal Behavior Science. According to it the main 5 personality aspects of pet owners are as follows: 

• Neuroticism
• Extraversion
• Conscientiousness
• Agreeableness
• Openness 

But the study also showed that the above-mentioned points don’t only refer to the owners but also their dogs. As humans are subconscious they choose their pets carefully taking a number of factors into account. 

Dogs can feel their owners’ emotions 

Since the very beginning of human history dogs and people have been close to each other. That’s common knowledge that dogs are smart animals able to feel and care for. They are also very loyal, sometimes even more than humans as they always return to the point they had left before. 

Dr. Patrick Mahaney, a Los Angeles-based veterinarian has dealt with dogs that have various kinds of behavior deviations and has found out that their owners experience a stressful life. As he believes this highly impacts a dog’s performance and leads to certain situations. 

Do people adapt dogs' behavior?

That firm connection between a dog and a human is seriously amazing both physically and mentally. Now there’s no doubt that a dog is a man’s best friend. Living around people, dogs develop new skills and talents. Of course, so many characteristic features depend on the breed of the dog but everyday activities accompanied by humans shape a dog’s behavior. Today we can say for sure that the union of dogs and humans is inseparable.