How does a dog recognize its owner?

First of all, experts say, dogs recognize the owner by smell. Experts note that it is the sense of smell that allows pets to determine “their person” among, for example, twins. The unique feature of animals has become the subject of study for scientists. The work of the dog’s brain was tracked using MRI. It turned out that the aroma of the host provokes activity in some areas of the “gray matter” of the animal. Experts emphasized that in this way the dog not only remembers the smell of a person, but also rejoices when he appears.

Vision also helps pets to recognize the owner. To prove this fact, Italian scientists conducted an experiment: a dog, its owner and a person unknown to the animal were placed in one room. After spending some time together, the people parted in different directions and left the room through different doors. The dog remained sitting at the door through which its owner came out. Then the scientists repeated the situation, only they first put masks on people. After the animal was left alone in the room, for a long time it could not “decide on the door.” As a result, scientists have found reason to believe that dogs use their eyesight to identify humans.

Finally, hearing. Pets are extremely receptive to sounds, and the voice of the owner can be distinguished among thousands of others. At the same time, experts are sure that dogs are able to distinguish not only timbre, but also intonations, which helps them to predict the mood of a person.

April 14 2020

Updated: 20 May 2020