We love science, especially when it proves something we have known all along. Our dogs do feel emotions and can empathize with us! And all they have to do is look at the expressions on our faces!

The MRI revealed that dogs brains lit up in certain areas that indicated that they were examining the human faces much more closely and trying to “read” them. Other animals tend to be able to read faces of their own species, but dogs are so closely tuned in to human emotions that they read our faces in a similar way. In fact, the same areas of the brain that humans use to recognize each other were found to be activated in the dogs of the study.

Nathan Williams, a dog behavior specialist, says that dogs are able to recognize subtle cues that even humans can’t understand. That’s part of what makes them our best friends.

So, not only can they understand us by countenance but – to repeat – the same area of the brain that we as humans use is found to be activated in this study! To us this speaks volume!

Thank you to Dog Time for bringing this fascinating information to light! The next time you talk with a friend who is an unbeliever you can now tell them there is an expert study that has proven that Rover can read us as well as we read him!