by Meg Daley Olmert, Science Advisor,
The Comfort Dog Project
As The Comfort Dog Project demonstrates, the key reward we humans can receive from our dogs is their trust and devotion.
Dogs, like all of us, have critical wants and needs such as food, water, safety and shade. It is important we understand and honor that. But we humans--we spouses, siblings, and friends--have a great many more desires and needs that demand our attention and distract us from recognizing the needs of others. Highly social mammals, like us, crave the level of attention and recognition that often can only be given us by a beloved dog.
We now know that the structure and functioning of the brain regions that control social behavior in both humans and dogs is highly similar. For humans, these social brain networks encourage us to make the social connections with each other that are essential to our mental and physical welfare and our ability to reproduce and survive as a species. The social network in dogs' brains compels them to seek the companionship of humans for their individual and species survival. Even in Uganda, when they are not cared for by people or even endangered by them, dogs must stay close enough to scavenge our garbage. Whether or not they are loved or hated, they must be keen observers of human nature to survive.
When beloved by a guardian, a dog can turn that life-saving attention towards their guardian. This devotion of focus and neural resources allows them to gain profound understanding of their guardians' deepest wants and needs--unspoken thoughts and feelings. Very few of our close family and friends can read us as well as our dogs. The sense of being understood on a deep level is what we humans crave. And when we see that our dogs don't just really know us, but also love us devotedly, we can find our hearts capable of returning that very pure kind of love to them.
It would be a mistake to think that our dogs love us unconditionally or never judge us. They are brilliant judges of how trustworthy we are. And when a dog--who knows us often better than we know ourselves--deems us trustworthy, that is the ultimate compliment any social animal can bestow on another. Without trust no social contract can be written. For all of human history, people have admired those who are trusted by animals. I think that is what people really see when they see our guardians and their comfort dogs. They may say they are impressed by our dogs' obedience and grooming, but deep-down they are recognizing the mutual trust that makes it all possible. In northern Uganda trust was stolen and it is trust that must be restored in order for all creatures to heal and prosper. The Comfort Dog Project teaches dogs and people how to trust each other. That may be its most important mission.
Trust, affection, and joy. These are the evolutionary social talents that have earned dogs the reputation of Man's Best Friend. It is an honor to witness the kindling of these great friendships and the warmth that is growing between dogs and humans in Northern Uganda.
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Meg Olmert is the Science Advisor for The Comfort Dog Project and author of the book Made for Each Other: The Biology of the Human-Animal Bond.
The Comfort Dog Project
As The Comfort Dog Project demonstrates, the key reward we humans can receive from our dogs is their trust and devotion.
Dogs, like all of us, have critical wants and needs such as food, water, safety and shade. It is important we understand and honor that. But we humans--we spouses, siblings, and friends--have a great many more desires and needs that demand our attention and distract us from recognizing the needs of others. Highly social mammals, like us, crave the level of attention and recognition that often can only be given us by a beloved dog.
We now know that the structure and functioning of the brain regions that control social behavior in both humans and dogs is highly similar. For humans, these social brain networks encourage us to make the social connections with each other that are essential to our mental and physical welfare and our ability to reproduce and survive as a species. The social network in dogs' brains compels them to seek the companionship of humans for their individual and species survival. Even in Uganda, when they are not cared for by people or even endangered by them, dogs must stay close enough to scavenge our garbage. Whether or not they are loved or hated, they must be keen observers of human nature to survive.
When beloved by a guardian, a dog can turn that life-saving attention towards their guardian. This devotion of focus and neural resources allows them to gain profound understanding of their guardians' deepest wants and needs--unspoken thoughts and feelings. Very few of our close family and friends can read us as well as our dogs. The sense of being understood on a deep level is what we humans crave. And when we see that our dogs don't just really know us, but also love us devotedly, we can find our hearts capable of returning that very pure kind of love to them.
It would be a mistake to think that our dogs love us unconditionally or never judge us. They are brilliant judges of how trustworthy we are. And when a dog--who knows us often better than we know ourselves--deems us trustworthy, that is the ultimate compliment any social animal can bestow on another. Without trust no social contract can be written. For all of human history, people have admired those who are trusted by animals. I think that is what people really see when they see our guardians and their comfort dogs. They may say they are impressed by our dogs' obedience and grooming, but deep-down they are recognizing the mutual trust that makes it all possible. In northern Uganda trust was stolen and it is trust that must be restored in order for all creatures to heal and prosper. The Comfort Dog Project teaches dogs and people how to trust each other. That may be its most important mission.
Trust, affection, and joy. These are the evolutionary social talents that have earned dogs the reputation of Man's Best Friend. It is an honor to witness the kindling of these great friendships and the warmth that is growing between dogs and humans in Northern Uganda.
-------------
Meg Olmert is the Science Advisor for The Comfort Dog Project and author of the book Made for Each Other: The Biology of the Human-Animal Bond.