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FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | APRIL 2026 45 Tails & Trails - All Pets Dogs are special. From excited doorway greetings to adoring gazes aimed at their owners, there's a good reason these animals are known as "man's best friend." Studies prove that this animal's hypersocial behavior may actually be written in its genetics. Dogs establish relationships with those around them, both human and animal, through giving and receiving care and affection. Like their ancestors, the wolves, dogs are pack-animals. In the wild, a pack will work together to hunt for food and to protect its territory, and in domestic situations, a dog will consider its owners and its human family to be members of its pack. A dog's pack mentality is one of the factors that makes it such a social animal. They crave companionship and feel safest when they know everyone that they care about is close by. Dogs are excellent at sensing their owner's moods. They can identify the different emotions behind specific words. Just the sound or tone of your voice can help your dog read your emotions. A scientific paper published in 2018 explains, "dogs not only feel empathy towards people, but in some cases also act on this empathy." What makes dogs even more social is that they also receive the emotional support that humans give them, be it through praise, physical affection, or treats. For an animal to be considered social, good communication is vital. Not only do dogs have an intricate system of communicating their emotions with other dogs and humans, for example, through wagging their tails, f lattening their ears, changing their postures, and even vocalizations, but they are also exceptionally good at reading expressions on human faces. It is widely accepted that dogs are hypersocial in comparison with their ancestors, wolves. Although it was long believed that this was down to conditioning, a study in 2017 demonstrated that dogs may be genetically predisposed to being more social. Specifically, it is the presence of certain genes that makes dogs more likely to form stronger bonds with social companions. Dogs may be predisposed to being friendly and sociable, but they still require early socialization to help them learn how to interact with people and other animals. ~ Vivian Walker, vivr@sbcglobal.net Dogs are special. From excited doorway greetings to What makes dogs even more social is that they

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