Are we anthropomorphising or are we empathising?

In a nutshell, anthropomorphising is ascribing uniquely human characteristics, behaviours, emotions or value systems to other things, such as trees, cars and animals. The tendency to anthropomorphise is part of being human and we all do it to some degree, often without noticing. It is something that has been heavily criticised in the past when it comes to the scientific study of, and our relationships with, companion animals and particularly dogs. The scientific community has traditionally felt that assuming that animals share any of the same mental, social, and emotional capacities of humans, produces subjective, and therefore unscientific, results. Strictly observable and measurable evidence must always be the basis for all research.

Anthropomorphising has many benefits though, which were largely ignored as the sentiment

that “ANTHROPOMORPHISM IS BAD” filtered down from scientists, to dog professionals and then on to guardians. The concept that animals have emotions, thoughts and feelings, just as we do helps us to be more empathetic towards them. If we can put ourselves in their paws, as a friend of mine puts it, we can help them to feel safe when they are afraid and confident when they are uncertain.

In recent years, the development of neuroimaging has allowed scientists a much better understanding of how mammalian brains work. That all important observable and measurable evidence of emotion was found. We now understand that there is much overlap between human and canine emotions; dogs have now been shown to have the same emotional capacity of a toddler. This means that a dog’s emotional range covers fear, excitement, distress, disgust, contentment, anger, joy, suspicion and love. However, dogs cannot feel shame, guilt, pride or contempt, or if they can it has yet to be proven. The do not see the world in terms of right or wrong, they do not have a moral code. They view the world in terms of what worked to achieve the desired goal and what didn’t. Things to try again and things to avoid. Putting their head in the bin achieved the desired goal of eating the food they could smell. Putting their head in a buzzing hole is to be avoided as it results in a painful bee sting. Dogs can also experience a range of conflicting emotions felt together, just as humans can. It is not always an either/or scenario of pure excitement or pure fear, they are just as capable of feeling excitement and fear together.

Anthropomorphising can lead to the assumption that dogs perceive their world the same way we do, that they understand concepts such as “I can jump up to hug this person, but not that person” or “I can get on the sofa anytime except when Uncle Bill is here”. Consequently, attempts are made to change behaviours we don't like based on incorrect ideas of the reasons behind them. Behaviours, which are not socially acceptable in human society, yet are perfectly normal within canine interactions, such as butt sniffing, are prevented as we impose our human viewpoint upon them. We begin to believe that our dog has done something we dislike out of spite or resentment so reprimand them for being “naughty”. The look of “guilt” on their faces when scolded is all the proof we need that our assumption was correct. In fact, it had absolutely nothing to do with the incident we are attaching it to and that look of guilt was appeasement caused by the fear of our sudden, inexplicable anger. Actually, Bob the dog felt a bit anxious and chewing up the nearest thing that felt right helped soothe him. It just happened to be your best shoes and had nothing to do with you moving his bed yesterday. Anthropomorphising can do dogs a big disservice; a dog has senses far greater than ours and that is easy to forget if we view them as mini, fur covered humans. A dog who suddenly barks at “nothing” may be scolded, when in fact they could hear or scent something they felt threatened by which was way beyond our abilities to detect.

When we are considering anthropomorphism with regards to dogs, we must be careful not to follow our human tendency to take things to the extreme. We must not let our fear of it prevent us from empathising with our companion animals and we must not let our empathy and affection for them fool us into believing they are little humans. Doing either of these things risks taking away their fundamental right to be exactly what a dog was meant to be. Dogs are uniquely dogs, with different social norms, different ways of communicating and different strengths and weaknesses, not furry humans, but they also share many things with us.

If a dog can feel all these emotions, in the same way we can, then surely it is no longer anthropomorphising to ascribe them, as these emotions are not unique to humans after all. This means that to consider the emotional experience of an animal should no longer be considered as anthropomorphism. Sadly, to some, it still is because it suits their purpose. If you consider their emotions it becomes uncomfortable to use pain, mental or physical, to control behaviour. If we know that dogs have the same emotions as a toddler, but we wouldn't use these methods to teach that toddler, then why is it deemed appropriate to us them to teach our dogs?

The things that fall under the umbrella of anthropomorphism have changed. Dog training and behaviour should follow too.