MULTIPLE SCIENTIFIC STUDIES HAVE CONFIRMED THAT DOGS AND THEIR OWNER REALLY LOOK AND BEHAVE ALIKE
Stumbling upon a dog that looks like its human, even if only a bit, is a cute occurrence that can brighten our days. Even while pop culture may have exaggerated this tendency, science has supported it with multiple studies. It appears to have psychological roots and occurs more frequently than we realise.
First, according to a 2015 study, women with long hair preferred dogs with long ears, like beagles, whereas women with short hair were more likely to adopt a husky or other short-eared youngster. Art Markman, a cognitive scientist and senior vice provost for academic affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, told CNN that there are several reasons something can start to feel familiar to you, including the possibility that you had a dog similar to that as a child. "But the fact that something looks like something you've seen before—like, say, yourself—can also make it feel familiar."
A separate aspect was the topic of research conducted by Sadahiko Nakajima from Kwansei Gakuin University's Department of Psychological Science in Japan. Based on a study in which students were presented two sets of photographs of human-dog couples, they were not aware of—one with a real owner and their pet, and the other a random, "fake pair," Nakajima discovered that dogs and their humans share similarities in the eye region. The majority of participants were able to identify the actual pair, but their accuracy was greatly decreased when they covered the areas of the dogs' or owners' eyes.
Three researchers from Amsterdam's VU University examined pet and human obesity. With the assistance of three nearby veterinary clinics, the researchers—Marieke Nijland, Frank Stam, and Jacob C. Seidell—worked with 36 pairs of cats and their owners and 47 pairs of dogs and their owners. They discovered a strong correlation between the owners' BMI and the extent of overweight dogs. They did not, however, record a comparable trend between overweight cats and their owners.
But what about behaviour? Brazilian psychologist Renata Roma points to evolutionary history, which has also prompted us to seek like-minded people to build relationships. “In evolutionary contexts, being in cohesive and predictable groups increased co-operation and survival,” she says. “These patterns continue to influence our relationships with others, favouring connections with people who appear to align with our values, behaviours or even physical traits. Apparently, similar mechanisms influence how we relate to dogs.”
However, Roma adds that pet parents can reinforce certain behaviours based on their preferences or routines. Overall, each human-dog friendship has a deeper meaning than only the similarities. Similar to interpersonal interactions, similarity is not always what binds us together. Even though likeness matters, she says, "occasionally the strongest connections are not between people who are alike." "How well we connect, encourage one another, embrace potential differences, and develop mutual understanding seems to matter the most."
