Valentine's Day, the "feast of lovers" and the ideal time to celebrate affections in a broader sense.
Anyone who has a dog knows it: even dogs feel a sense of deep attachment, potentially very lasting, for some of their kind, which they choose in a targeted way based on their preferences.
"There are studies, carried out with functional magnetic resonance imaging, which demonstrate how dogs are able to learn by activating areas of the brain intended for cognitive processing of information" explains Dr. Sabrina Giussani, veterinarian expert in animal behavior and President Senior of SISCA (Italian Society of Animal Behavior Sciences).
“Other studies show that dogs are able to recognize the negative and positive emotions (especially the negative ones) felt by other dogs and by people.
It is also an established fact that dogs experience at least the six basic emotions: anger, fear, sadness, disgust, joy and surprise ”.
The emotional dimension and preferences - as well as dislikes - are instead evident from their behavior.
So what are the signs of a dog "in love"?
There are behaviors that make evident a deep attachment between two dogs: when they meet
they exchange "kisses",
on the mouth but also on the eyes, on the ears, the tail moves animatedly in a helix, the ears back and often they seek physical contact such as touch their chest and they can bow to the game.
This usually happens between male and female, when there is a strong affinity between the two and when these dogs already know each other well: they are signs that manifest what we would call "courtship".
This can be associated with the desire to mate.
When the two dogs bonded by this special attachment are together they
love, if they are very young, racing
- first one ahead and then the other - hand-to-hand play, barking together and also playing with other dogs.
The more they grow, the more the playful part decreases and they prefer
to sniff together
, find possible prey, bark at someone and then, even later with age, they prefer to walk together outdoors instead of staying in the dog area.
It should be emphasized that this way of expressing an attachment can also take place between two males or two females, expressing in this case a very close friendship relationship.
These strong affections and preferences can also last for a long time: the dogs in harmony with each other look for each other, when they are on a walk they drag the owners towards each other's house, they even bark and cry under the other's house.
However, it cannot be said that this very special attachment is reserved only for a mate, there could be other strong affinities with other conspecifics.
It may happen that the dog strongly attached to a non-sterilized dog manifests serious discomfort: he could get to not eat, cry, be restless, always ask to go out and reach her, pulling strongly in the direction of his house.
Some owners observe a real, albeit transitory, difficulty.
In general, in all situations of discomfort, pheromones are supportive, which can help the dog to find greater serenity and greater balance in a critical phase for him.
In the form of a diffuser for the environment but also of a collar (such as those of Adaptil), they reproduce in a natural way all the properties of the pheromones that a dog mother releases to her little ones: they are messages of comfort and safety that are effective with dogs of all breeds and sizes.
And finally, why not give our 4-legged friend a Valentine's Day gift?
A gesture of affection will always do the relationship good.
"On this front all possibilities are open: every dog has their own tastes and an appreciated gift can be not only a game, but also a delicious food cooked especially for him, for dogs who love coats there is only the 'spoiled for choice, the same goes for those who love blankets or bunks ”advises the expert.