Why are dogs so happy

This story originally appeared in BarkPost email, the new home of BarkPost’s original articles. If you want silly stories, fascinating dog facts, cute pup pics, and puplifting stories every week, sign up at BarkPost.com!

Odds are pretty good that you’ve experienced the daily joy of coming home to your dog after a long day—and seeing your pup’s ridiculous, outta-control joy at the sight of you. Do you ever wonder, between all the jumps and the kisses, what makes your dog *THIS* crazy to see you?

And yes, the correct answer is, “because I’m the best and my dog knows it and we’re family for life, duh!” But there’s some interesting science behind it, too!

Of course, they wanna know what you’ve been up to.

If you wanna know what your friend’s been up to, you ask “How was your weekend?” Dogs are much more direct: they jump up and lick your face! The tastes and smells on your face say where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing—and maybe even if you’ve brought food. So your dog’s not just saying “OMG Hiiii!!!”… They’re also saying, “OMG Hiiiiii ohhh you TASTE LIKE CHICKEN GIVE ME SOME OF THAT CHICKEN THANKS LOVE YOU!”

You’re literally their favorite.

Neuroscientist Gregory Berns gave some pups MRIs to see how their brains reacted to different stimuli. He learned that (1) the scent of a familiar human activates the “pleasure and reward” regions of a dog’s brain, and (2) a dog’s brain reacts to their human the same way we react to seeing our human best friends.

In other words, “They don’t just see us as ‘part of their pack as dogs,” Berns says. “Dogs love their humans—and not just for food. They love the company of humans simply for its own sake.” So your pup’s not greeting you like any old pup: they’re greeting the return of their friggin superhero.

They can’t even handle their love for you.

Another point from Berns: Dogs don’t have abstract thinking and complex feelings the way humans do; their emotions are more direct. When dogs see you, it’s literally a *pure joy.* They’re not thinking, “Ah, Stacie, whom I love, but who recently scolded me for eating the flowers, has returned.” It’s more like: “YAAAAS IT’S MY MAAAAAAAMZ!!!!”

They’re the social type.

Every dog is different, but dogs as a species are social animals. They don’t like to be alone unless it’s their choice. Your pup might become bored after you leave, but they get an explosion of pure joy when you return. “PACK REUNITED! TIME FOR THE HUNT AND/OR NETFLIX!”

So, that just about explains it! If you’re at work, just think about how excited your pup will be when you return home. And if you’re eating something tasty for lunch, maybe save a little something for your dog. It only takes ‘em one kiss to know what you’ve brought home!

Thanks for reading! And sign up for BarkPost email to get our silly stories, fascinating dog facts, cute pup pics, and puplifting stories every week!

Dogs are very faithful and loyal animals. Compared to their counterparts like other pet animals, they are considered superior in terms of their loyal and friendly behavior. Human have the tendency of expressing their love for others by hugging and kissing. Dogs too have similar traits.

As per ancient beliefs dogs are considered to share common traits with wolves. It was believed that the ancestors of dogs were wolves. This dates back to thousands of years. But gradually the species separated and showed different behavior tendencies. We all know how unfriendly and dangerous wolves are towards humans unlike dogs. This is the main point of difference between the two species.

Wolves have the habit of greeting their fellow beings with excessive licking on the face. Dogs too, exhibit similar actions. They also greet their co-fellows by licking their faces. In spite of similar traits, the difference between both the animals cannot be overlooked. Wolves are completely non friendly with humans and dogs are a man’s best friend.

So much so that. The dogs are particularly happy to meet their owners when they reach home. The tendencies of this sort are seen in dogs due to certain emotional traits present in the dogs.

• Dogs are emotional beings just like humans. They exhibit their love towards their owners just like human greet their family members after getting back home from work. Similarly, dogs also greet their owners with love which they express by licking the human.
• The dog has a strong sense of scent. This habit of their make them recognize their owner even in a crowd of thousands. This trait of theirs makes them extremely happy to see their owner after a gap of few hours.
• Their brain has receptors powers which make them realize the fact that when someone comes home, they should exhibit their affection towards them. It is easy to understand dog behavior.
• Dogs have proved their loyalty towards their owners time and again. They have the sense of reuniting with known characters. This sparks happiness in their brain which makes them behave in an affectionate manner to meet their owners when they get back home after few hours.
• Experts believe that dogs and humans are friends because they thing and react alike in a lot of ways. They pour their love on their owners simply because they missed them when the owners were away. A normal way of behavior traits in humans too.
• A sense of security develops in the mind of the dog when they are in the company of their owners. This alleviates their joy when they see them after they get home from work.
• The presence of hormone named oxytocin releases excitement in the dogs to greet their owners when they meet their owners,
• Socializing traits in dogs are similar to humans which make them happy to be in the company of their owners. So they are excited and happy when they are around their owners. They love to be loved.

All these reasons attribute their love and emotion towards their owners. They show similar traits towards other dogs too. This behavior is quite similar to human behavior. Scientists have proven these facts. They have studied dog tendencies and behavior and come to these conclusions.

But putting facts aside, if we go by their canine habits, they too have emotions and they feel the need to release that when required. Their way of expressing love is by:

• Licking the owner
• Jumping over the owner when they return home.
• Following the owner with the need of reciprocation of love and affection.
• Wagging their tail is a friendly way of exhibiting their emotion.

These actions are positive signs of friendliness seen in a dog. The dog is completely harmless if they show such symptoms. Dogs have instincts, which are unmatched and unparalleled.

Science has revealed their ways of expression and conducted many tests to understand the behavior of dogs. Though their ancestors belonged to the species of wolves, they separated due to their instincts. They were more superior in terms of wolves as far as their association with humans was concerned. Thus dogs became very friendly with humans because they related better with humans. The dog’s behavior with humans was more secure than other animals. Wolves became dangerous for human and hence man too is loving and caring towards them. They want to maintain a distance with wolves because wolves are ferocious and harmful unlike dogs.

These are the primary reasons of the love for humans, which dogs have in them instinctively. Even humans have reciprocated their love for the dogs in very friendly and secured way. We can conclude very safely that dogs are our best friends. They only want love and affection in return and emote in a similar manner.