The Secrets of an Unbreakable Friendship: Dogs and Humans
Our emotional bond with dogs goes back thousands of years and remains unbreakable to this day.
Dogs are playful, stubborn, they love having fun and, above all, they are loyal.
Their evolution, which took millennia, has made them perfectly suited to us.
History and Cooperation at the Extremes
Greenland dogs, living heirs to the genome of the ancient wolf, belong to one of the oldest dog breeds in the world.
They are ideal for extreme missions in the far north, because their thick fur protects them in temperatures down to -40°C.
For more than 2,000 years, sled dogs and humans shared a close relationship with nomads in Siberia, the Inuit, and the inhabitants of Greenland.
In landscapes ruled by ice and snow, our ancestors depended on dogs not only for hunting, but also for expanding trade routes, because they could reach other settlements to buy and sell goods with their sleds themselves.
Even back then, dogs proved to be highly social animals.
Sled dogs are the only working animals in the world that you cannot pressure into doing whatever you want, because their driving force is the joy of pulling and the satisfaction of teamwork itself.
In these extreme conditions, the dog is essentially the human’s life insurance, and trust is vital, with the human ensuring that their commands will never place the dogs in danger.
The “Masters” of Herding
Border Collies, whose ancestors lived in England and Scotland in the 16th century, were further developed by shepherds and became indispensable for guiding sheep to new pasture and water.
These dogs are considered true masters of herding, mainly because of their wide field of view (about 250°).
This makes them extremely sensitive to movement around them, helping them supervise the sheep at every moment.
During herding, dogs channel their natural hunting behavior—namely targeting prey, stalking, and circling it—into their work itself.
Intelligence and Communication
Dogs are smarter than we think.
They are among the few animals that can respond to where we look, where we point, and how we speak.
Studies show that they can not only interpret the tone of our voice but also understand exactly what we say.
Dogs process meaningful words in the left hemisphere of the brain and the tone of voice in the right, in a way similar to humans.
Researchers found that dogs feel appreciated only when both the words and the tone express praise.
The Border Collie, Chaser, became known as the smartest dog in the world, as studies conducted by her owner suggested that canine intelligence has been underestimated.
Chaser learned the names of more than a thousand objects, as well as common nouns.
She also demonstrated understanding of syntax and semantics, executing commands that included three grammatical elements, such as moving one object to another.
Reading Emotions and Perspective
Dogs can empathize with us and see things from our perspective.
They can read our faces like an open book.
Just like us, dogs instinctively focus on the right side of our face (which is more expressive than the left) to recognize the mood or emotions of the person they’re interacting with.
This gives them strong insight into our thoughts and feelings—something they do only with humans and not with other dogs.
Their high intelligence also shows in how they adapt their behavior by weighing consequences, such as when they try to approach their food stealthily while watching their owner.
The Superpowers of Smell
Dogs’ incredible senses make them essential members of any team.
Dogs have about 220 million olfactory cells—around 40 times more than humans—and they can recognize a single odor molecule among a trillion others.
Thanks to their acute sense of smell, they can detect diseases even at very early stages, as well as find drugs, weapons, and explosives.
Cancer-detection dogs are trained to recognize alkaline odors released by certain cancer cells.
These odors have been identified in breath samples (lung cancer) and urine samples (prostate cancer).
Trained dogs have demonstrated overwhelming accuracy, with 93% of their results being correct across more than 2,200 documented cases of cancer.
In addition, trained cadaver-detection dogs, such as Lea, are believed to have the sharpest sense of smell among all dogs.
They can detect the “cocktail” of chemical odors produced during decomposition and find human remains outdoors, underground, or even in deep waters....
The Role of Empathy
Dogs are perfect in caregiving roles because of their ability to develop empathy.
They can sense when we are happy or sad.
For example, Pina, an assistance dog (Australian Shepherd), was trained to help her owner who had been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome.
Thanks to the dog, the owner was able to overcome loneliness, depression, and self-harm.
The dog’s presence enables the owner to handle everyday situations, such as talking to strangers and managing crowds.
The Chemistry of Love and Redemption
The gentle, pleading eyes of dogs—a trait that developed specifically for their relationship with humans—play a central role in their evolutionary history.
When dogs look humans in the eyes, the same hormones (oxytocin and dopamine) that bond a mother with her newborn are activated too.
This close connection has the power to change lives.
In a unique program in an Atlanta prison, inmates train shelter dogs.
This program helps the dogs transform from victims into family members.
For the inmates, dogs offer unconditional love and companionship, especially when they feel cut off from their families themselves.
Training the dogs requires the inmates not to be impulsive and hyperactive, which helped them become more prepared for the transition back into society.
Dogs bring peace and calm to the units.
The secret of our wonderful and lasting friendship is that dogs’ brains respond to us with the same feelings, in the same brain regions, just as we do to them.
This means that our dog truly loves us.
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