Are dogs capable of empathy?

Recent studies have shown that animals are far more sentient than once thought.

At home, no one reads the room better than Pippi does. A whiff of anxiety in the air unsettles him to no end. Although never a cuddle bug, he sticks to us like Velcro when we are in pain. He gets all ‘nosey’ during a family squabble, nudging us with his snout to calm us down, or so we think. A hint of despair, and he miraculously appears next to us, sharing his warmth. When we chuckle, his FOMO kicks in, and he joins us in an instant to know what’s up. Every time, his all-knowing-ness leaves us in awe.

Pippi’s outpouring of concern is primarily around his humans; cats, squirrels and rabbits don’t figure in his list yet. He’s not alone; dogs have proved to science that they give it all to ‘save’ their owners in distress. Remember that intelligent Indie who alerted his family of smoke from the kitchen before disaster struck? Dogs also seem to feel for their kin. When a homeless man in Brazil was admitted to a hospital, the dogs he fed visited him. They stood at the door, and a heartwarming photograph of that scene went viral. Cats are not far behind — many have been known to ‘adopt’ puppies and other animals and care for them. Although not headline-grabbing, soul-stirring stories of pets caring for one another in a multi-pet household are far too familiar.

Our pets feeling others’ pain tells us that they have a heart of gold (or something far more precious)! So, are they capable of empathy — an emotion only humans (really, I wonder) and some primates seem to possess? Is there more going on with a tail wag or a purr?

A spectrum of emotions

Until recently, ideas probing into animals’ emotional side were dismissed as anthropomorphism — the process of ascribing human feelings and emotions to animals. But, recent studies have shown that animals, in fact, are far more sentient than once thought. Experiments on lab rats have shown that they actually ‘care’ for rats that they know and free them from traps if given a chance. Rats also perceive increased pain when they see other rats in pain. After all, there was some truth to the rat army in the movie Ratatouille! Piglets become stressed when they see or hear other piglets restrained. Horses and cats read our facial expressions and seem to respond to how we feel. Chimpanzees hug and kiss to console other chimpanzees after fights. Not all animals show such emotions to the same levels; there is a spectrum depending on the social structures in animal societies.

So, where do all these human-like emotions arise in animals? Turns out it’s from the human-like brain that they have. The limbic system — the seat of all our emotions, memory and learning — is present in all mammalian brains. It’s here that animals experience ‘emotional contagion’— the spontaneous spread of emotions and related behaviours. When Pippi sees a dog yell in pain at the vet’s, he winces, and that’s evidence of this contagion. Studies show that this response is brought about by oxytocin, the ‘love hormone’ present in all mammals that facilitates social interactions.

Healing with pets

I find that our pet’s ability to show emotions, much like us, can make them therapeutic in many ways. Although it might sound silly to many, conversations with them help me vent it out without the fear of being judged. Most pet parents I know swear by it. There’s a good reason why animal-assisted therapy has proven to be helpful to people recovering from severe trauma, illness or post-traumatic stress disorders — oxytocin heals. Children with autism have been found to communicate better when raised with or exposed to pets.

With a medley of feelings, our pets crave a life that caters to their physical and emotional wellbeing. For me, that means letting Pippi be his doggy self — bark, sniff, dig, play or chase. I only help him do them in safer ways and not shut any of them down for my convenience. Yes, the house is a mess, but who cares! I try to find ways to communicate rather than ‘train’ or ‘discipline’ him. Well, what can I teach a dog who seems to know it all?

Tailspin is your monthly column on everything that’s heartwarming and annoying about pet parenting.

The writer is a science communicator and mom to Pippi, a five-year-old rescued Indie, who is behind her drive to understand dogs better. She tweets @RamanSpoorthy