5 Surprising Ways Dogs Imitate Their Humans

Does it feel as though your dog is your perfect match, your twin flame, or even your mini-me? As it turns out, dogs can’t help but take after their favorite people. In celebration of Twin With Your Dog Day, learn about five fascinating scientific discoveries that show that dogs really are just like us.
 

1.Dogs Are Our Personality Twins

Do you ever feel as though the more time you spend with your dog, the more you think and act alike? It’s not your imagination. A 2019 Michigan State University study shows that dogs really do pick up personality traits from their humans. Dogs can learn to be affectionate, excitable, optimistic, extroverted, and laid-back from their favorite people. Unfortunately, they can also pick up personality traits like aggression and fearfulness from their humans.

In more ways than one, dogs teach us to be the best person we can be. Now we know that the reverse is true too. Dogs follow our example and look to us when it comes to how they react to situations. Most of all, they truly understand us on a deeper level like only close family members do.
 

2.Dogs Mirror Our Health Issues

Here’s a not-so-fun one: veterinarians report that they’re seeing more of their doggy patients with health issues that mirror those of their owners. Dogs may be more likely to suffer from chronic issues like asthma, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. This is likely because we share the same environment, we’re exposed to the same pollution, and we have many of the same lifestyle habits as our pets.

The silver lining is that we can look to our dogs as a reminder to care for ourselves. Daily exercise, a healthy diet, and yearly wellness checkups are just as important for dogs as they are for people. Why not twin with your dog and commit to a lifestyle change that you can work towards together?
 

3.Dogs Can Be Left or Right Handed

Like people, dogs have a dominant paw (hand) and the majority are righties. While they may not use their paws to write or tie their shoes, they consistently preferred to use one paw over the other when it came to reaching for a toy or offering a paw to “shake.” A 2023 study published in Animal Cognition scientific journal found that dogs that belong to left-handed people are more likely to be lefties themselves, possibly from imitating their humans’ behaviors.
 

4.Dogs Look Like Their Family Members

You’ve probably heard some people say that dogs look like their owners. A psychologist from the University of California explored this idea by going to dog parks and taking photos of dogs and their people. Then, he asked study participants to match up the photos of dogs with their photos of their owners. The results showed that coordinating physical cues were a reliable predictor of dog and owner pairs.

It’s likely that we subconsciously choose pets that have physical features that imitate our own, whether that’s long, floppy ears that look like our own hair, similar eye colors and eye shapes, and other physical traits.
 

5.Dogs Can Learn To Be Copycats

Dogs are capable of picking up new skills through “social learning,” or by observing others. Many pet parents take notice of social learning when their new puppy picks up good manners from their older dog, or when their dog learns skills like opening doors or turning on faucets without being trained. Animal behavior researcher Dr. Claudia Fugazza harnessed this skill by creating “Do As I Do (DAID),” an approach to dog training that encourages dogs to take turns observing, then copying their owner. Dogs trained with the DAID protocol have been able to learn more quickly than through traditional training techniques.

Why not give it a try on Twin With Your Dog Day? By teaching your dog through social learning, you can not only potentially advance their skills, but also build a whole new avenue of communication between you and your pup.