Dogs are Not Human
I love my dogs and I consider them to be part of family; but they are not human. Some contemporary canine behaviorists have advocated for treating dogs as if they were human children; thus, some refer to themselves as “pet parents” and elevate the status of their pets to be equal or superior to their human children.
A well trained dog is a great gift, they are able to assist in the physical and psychological well being of their owners, but they are not human. The domestic canine has the scientific name of “canis lupus familiaris”; translated - canis, "dog"; lupus, "wolf"; familiaris, "of a household" or "domestic". Our pets are a subspecies of the wolf, they exhibit wolf-like traits and when left to themselves they revert back to their original wild state.
Although there are similarities between humans and dogs (i.e. both are social creatures), the differences far outweigh them. A major example can be found in the area of communication; a dog uses his tail to express various emotions; humans are unable to respond to their dogs via tail wagging and I doubt that any dogs will be learning about communication by the reading of this article.
Anthropomorphizing our dogs may meet some sociological need for humans, but it only confuses the dog. Our doting over a dog and treating him as if he was a person, leads the dog to believe that we are immature (if not crazy) and that we are in need of some kind of help. And try as they may, our dogs are not equipped to handle our supposed needs.
It is time to reevaluate our interactions with our dogs and learn how to communicate with them on their level and then, maybe, some of the so-called behavior problems would begin to fade away and maybe your relationship with your dog would become less stressful and more enjoyable.
Mark Miller
Nov. 27, 2011
I love my dogs and I consider them to be part of family; but they are not human. Some contemporary canine behaviorists have advocated for treating dogs as if they were human children; thus, some refer to themselves as “pet parents” and elevate the status of their pets to be equal or superior to their human children.
A well trained dog is a great gift, they are able to assist in the physical and psychological well being of their owners, but they are not human. The domestic canine has the scientific name of “canis lupus familiaris”; translated - canis, "dog"; lupus, "wolf"; familiaris, "of a household" or "domestic". Our pets are a subspecies of the wolf, they exhibit wolf-like traits and when left to themselves they revert back to their original wild state.
Although there are similarities between humans and dogs (i.e. both are social creatures), the differences far outweigh them. A major example can be found in the area of communication; a dog uses his tail to express various emotions; humans are unable to respond to their dogs via tail wagging and I doubt that any dogs will be learning about communication by the reading of this article.
Anthropomorphizing our dogs may meet some sociological need for humans, but it only confuses the dog. Our doting over a dog and treating him as if he was a person, leads the dog to believe that we are immature (if not crazy) and that we are in need of some kind of help. And try as they may, our dogs are not equipped to handle our supposed needs.
It is time to reevaluate our interactions with our dogs and learn how to communicate with them on their level and then, maybe, some of the so-called behavior problems would begin to fade away and maybe your relationship with your dog would become less stressful and more enjoyable.
Mark Miller
Nov. 27, 2011