Dogs can smell human emotional state

[skinnydipper]

Dogs Smell Your Emotional State and It Affects Their Mood

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/...our-emotional-state-and-it-affects-their-mood

 

[ycbm]

I'm sure horses do too.

 

[Chinchilla]

Haha, this is certainly true: we have often said about my dad's carpathian shepherd that she is my 'mood detection dog' because she knows if I'm in a bad place (or headed there) before I realise it myself.

It's not surprising though. For an animal which has lived alongside humans for as long as dogs have there is probably a significant advantage in them being attuned to us.

 

[{97702}]

This doesn’t surprise me at all - although I suppose we also give off a lot of other non-verbal signals which indicate our nervous state as well as our smell? I know that when I’m stressed my two most stressy dogs - Ace and Millie - can also tend to get stressed more easily Quite often it’s a good reminder for me to get a grip and stop being such an idiot around them!