Are dogs good at remembering people?

Question

I have a miniature Schnauzer, who is 4 years old. I was married for 5 years, and my wife, my dog, and I lived together for 2 years.

But 2 years ago I got divorced, and the dog is now living with me only. Our divorce was too troubled so I decided to deny my wife the ability to see the dog. In these 2 years, I've never seen my ex-wife and I never let her see or stay with our dog.

Last week my ex-wife talked with me about seeing our dog. Since too much time has passed, I thought maybe it was time to let them meet again.

But to my surprise my dog didn't like to see her. He growled and barked at her, and didn't let her cuddle him, and fled near me. It was too strange.

When we were married, he was very close to her. He slept in her arms. But why does he behave like this now?

Can my dog ​​understand the heartache I feel about my ex-wife? Or is it only that he doesn't recognize her any more?

Answer 1

It's been believed for a long time that dogs seem to have a way to sense their owner's emotions and react accordingly. If you have a strong dislike for your ex-wife, then the dog can pick up on that and express the same emotion. He may not actively dislike her, but he can recognize that you as the alpha are bothered, and therefore that this person represents a threat.

Doctors at the University of Portugal published an observational study in 2011 that showed, among other things, how dogs could exhibit "contagious yawning" -- yawning when their owners yawned. In humans, contagious yawning has been linked to an empathy response, and so the study writers posited that dogs are capable of empathy toward their owners, which would be a strong indication that they can read human emotions and mirror that response.

Further, earlier this year, a research group in Budapest used fMRI technology to map the way canine brains responded to vocal cues both from other dogs as well as humans, and were able to show a particular section of the brain that responded to differences in emotional tone, and that those reactions were similar across both dog sounds and human sounds. And as that particular brain region is in an analogous place to the area in a human brain responsible for interpreting emotional tone, there is strong conjecture that dogs are attuned to react to the tone of human voices in a similar way that we react to each other.

Not knowing how amiable (or not, as the case may be) your current relationship with your ex is, I can't say for certain that this is what's happening. But it is definitely possible that if there is still some strain on your interactions, that your dog is picking up on it and becoming more protective of you as a result.