Can Dogs Really Recognize Their Own Breed?
The Slick Pet Journal, January 2019
Most owners I know usually think that their dog can recognize whether or not other dogs are their same breed. However, the truth is there that has been no specific research to ascertain whether dogs can recognize their own breed.
Formal research has proved that they can differentiate between dogs versus other species such as rabbits or cows. In any social interaction, dogs need to first determine whether the other animal belongs to his own species. This can be done by smell, sight and hearing, but it can also involve cognitive processes such as discrimination and categorization. In a recent innovative study, dogs are able to pick out the faces of other dogs (regardless of breed) from other animal species, and group them into a category of their own.
Dogs simply don’t have the sense of self that you and me do. But whilst they can’t recognize themselves in the mirror. Interestingly, scientists believe that dogs have better social skills than people.
Body Language:
If you would like to know when your furry friend recognizes another dog; here I leave you some signals they usually show: Sniffing, Head Tilting, Tail Up, Alert, Ears Up, Whining, Very observant and Aware, Hair Standing Up, and many others.
Dogs may enjoy playing with other breeds as much as they do with their own.
Bottom Line:
The fact that they are able to recognize their own species visually, and that they have great olfactory discriminative capacities, ensures that social behavior and mating between different breeds is still potentially possible.
They are reacting to the body language and behavior of the dogs they see, not their specific look. If they often react badly to certain breeds, there are probably common traits of that breed that your dog simply doesn’t like.
For dogs, age & size seems to play a role in recognition and with whom they like to play and interact. However, many small dogs have large dog companions and vice versa.
Dogs can differentiate themselves between dogs versus other species.
Please comment below and share your dogs experience interacting with other dogs or other species.
Thank you,
Mike Meza, Founder
Published on January 2019
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