Study Shows Dog Empathy

Contagious yawning as a basic form of empathy, so far has only been known to be between humans and primates. This was thought to reflect our ability to relate and empathize with others. Contagious yawning is when you feel compelled to yawn, at the sight of someone else yawning. A new study by researcher Ramiro Joly-Mascheroni, at the University of London suggests we can add dogs to this list. In fact, dogs are much more likely to exhibit contagious yawning than either primates or humans.

The study says 72% of dogs will yawn in response to seeing us yawn. Whereas, primates will exhibit contagious yawning about 33% of the time, and humans around 55%of the time. If contagious yawning is a reflection of empathy, dogs show the highest ability to have empathy, over humans and primates. It is not surprising, as dogs seem to have an uncanny sense about picking up on human emotions and feelings.