Not only are they loyal friends, dogs also understand when you are sick: the study that confirms this thesis

A study has shown that dogs can actually tell when they’re feeling sick, and here’s everything they discovered

Often times, you have the impression that your dogs have An extraordinary ability to understand when you are sick: Well, a study confirms that this is exactly the case. By reading body language, four-legged friends have different ways of noticing when something is wrong. There is no doubt that they are incredibly perceptive animals and it is not without reason that they are known as man’s best friend.

Scientists have conducted several studies to test whether dogs can actually tell if we are sad, lonely, happy or sick, and it appears that over time Our pets have developed a certain intuition. Below, let’s find out how far your dog’s detection skills go.

Science of smell: A study confirms that dogs know when they are sick

Dogs may be able to sense anything from danger to changes in their owners’ moods, and one study even showed this I can understand if you’re not feeling well. The key to all of this is In their sense of smell. In fact, humans emit a completely different smell depending on their state of health.

For example in Study on early tumorsThe dogs were given stool and exhaled breath samples to see if they could detect colon cancer. The animals, which had previously been trained to detect the smell of cancer, were able to detect the disease almost as well as conventional diagnosis.

Even without training, dogs have a distinct advantage since Their sense of smell is more advanced From human. In fact, scientists estimate that it may be at least 10,000 times sharper. Likewise, dogs evolved The ability to read our facial expressions. This means they may be able to sense whether we are in pain or not.

A 2016 study from the University of Lincoln In the UK it was suggested Dogs can recognize human emotions. The experiment saw 17 domestic dogs listen to sounds paired with images in different combinations, displaying positive or negative emotional expressions. The animals spent significantly more time looking at pictures that matched the sounds in terms of emotion. From this it can be concluded that if we appear anxious and in pain, dogs are likely to understand this.

If smell and sight are not enough, Research conducted in 2014 He suggested that as well Dogs may notice differences In the manner of its owners They make noises when they are sick. By presenting dogs with audio stimuli and analyzing their brain functions, scientists found they could hear the difference between a happy owner and a sad one.