Even though most dogs are friendly, sometimes there are people that they simply just do not like…at all. Sometimes there seems to be no accounting for why dogs get irrationally upset when certain people come around.
You would think that it wouldn’t take more than some tasty treats slipped to them on the side and a few good bum-scratches before they took a shine to you but, well, dogs are quite a bit smarter than all that. Much like humans, it only takes dogs but a second to make a snap judgment about a person’s true character, and sometimes those judgments aren’t always in a person’s favor.
A person doesn’t have to be a stranger, either, for a dog to have a deep mistrust of them. Sometimes dogs will seem to loathe a close friend, or even a family member, too, and the signs of dislike aren’t always the same for each dog or person. As it turns out, though, there is some pretty solid scientific reasoning as to why your dog might snarl, snap, or just bail anytime they see someone they don’t care for. With that being said, here are 5 reasons that dogs don’t like certain people.
1. Watch Your Tone
Dogs might not necessarily know exactly what it is you’re saying, but the tone of your voice speaks volumes about your character in a dog’s eyes, and they happen to be extremely well-versed in the subliminal language of tone. According to a study published in 2016 in the online journal Science, researchers discovered that a dog’s brain is in fact specifically hardwired to respond to the tone of voice a person is using with them.
Through viewing images of a dog’s brain while a person spoke to them, the study shows that the reward pathway of the brain lights up with activity whenever someone speaks to them in a happy sounding, high-pitched tone of voice. The dogs’ physical reaction to the people that spoke in this tone was always joyful and affectionate.
Conversely, when people spoke to the dogs in a harsh or unhappy tone the dogs had varying negative reactions to the person or simply ignored them altogether.
2. They Know Your Body Language
In addition to taking in the tone a person is using, dogs are also keeping a keen eye on that person’s body language. This helps them to pick up on anything they might be missing or are confused about with a person’s tone.
One thing to note is that when it comes to a dog’s interpretation of body language, it’s a whole different ballgame than the way a human perceives the same types of movement.
For example, while you think that making direct eye contact is something only a trustworthy person will do, a dog thinks that it’s a serious show of disrespect, and they take offense to it.
Similarly, while when a person bends down and spreads their arms to give you a hug symbolizes compassion and friendship in a human’s interpretation of body language, dogs tend to perceive these as threatening displays of body language and it puts them on guard.
3. They Watch How You Interact With Other People
In a separate study, undertaken by a Kyoto University comparative psychologist and published in 2017 in the NewScientist, researchers evaluated a dog’s capacity to make social evaluations in comparison to how a human would. Specifically, the aim of the study was to determine whether or not a dog knew the difference between someone being rude vs. being kind.
He set the study up by having a dog observe their owners clearly struggling to open a container before asking a stranger for assistance. In some tests, the stranger was kind and helped the owner and in others, they staunchly refused, all while the dog observed.
In each scenario, the stranger then tries to show affection to the dog after their interaction with the dog’s owner. The majority of dogs that saw someone being rude to their owners refused to allow that person to pet them or even give them a treat!
Essentially, this was a loyalty test and the dogs passed with flying colors!
4. Dogs Will Literally Smell You Out
A dog trusts their nose like a person trusts their instincts. Dogs will use their snouts to sniff out anything that they might not like. For instance, if you own a dog and another dog doesn’t like you, it might be because he is smelling your other dogs and happens to have a strong dislike for his same-species peers. Conversely, if they get along with other dogs and can pick up their scent on you then congratulations! You’ve just earned yourself a new best friend.
There are some scents known to be a no-go for dogs; mothballs (we don’t blame them), citrus, rubbing alcohol, and vinegar. So if you know you’ll soon be meeting a new pup, steer clear of smelling like any of these and you should be good.
5. Dogs Can Have PTSD, Too
Source: Flickr/Vinod Velayudhan
Just like humans do, dogs also remember past traumatic events that they have survived through, and also just like people, dogs can have mental triggers that can cause them to have a negative reaction.
It could be any little thing that reminds them of someone who abused them in the past. This is most common in rescue dogs, and they could easily be triggered by your facial expression, height, gender, hairstyle, or even skin color. Anything could remind them of their abuser and cause them to mistrust, cower, or attack you.
Clearly, dogs are a lot more tuned-in than people tend to think they are, and they make excellent judges of character.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
