This republished article first appeared in New English Review.

When you think of all the creatures in the Animal Kingdom, as well as domestic pets, there is only one animal that regularly acts like a human being and displays some of our emotional traits: Dogs.

Writing in National Geographic some 10 ago, Maya Wei-Haas said: “It’s likely no surprise to dog owners, but growing research suggests that man’s best friend often acts more human than canine. Dogs can read facial expressions, communicate jealousy, display empathy, and even watch TV, studies have shown. They’ve picked up these people-like traits during their evolution from wolves to domesticated pets, which occurred between 11,000 and 16,000 years ago, experts say.”

If you watch footage of a dog in an animal rescue centre in its cage, it usually has a forlorn/morose expression on its face; a sad look of abandonment. Cats, in contrast, don’t have such expressions, which are unique to dogs and humans.

And when the dog is rescued and brought home to its new place to live, it has a happy/smiley expression on its face while in the car, sometimes cuddling up to its new owner, often placing its paw on the owner’s arm, as if to say: “Thank you so much for rescuing me; I really love you.”

But do dogs smile? Sandra C. Mitchell, writing in petMD, says that many canine expressions can be seen as a “smile,” including wide-mouth panting, relaxing with their tongues out, and submissive grins. Even aggressive baring of the teeth can be mistaken by some as a friendly greeting:

However, most of the time when dogs smile, they are indeed happy, so it’s easy to relate that expression to human smiles. Most scientists think the canine smile stems from a combination of evolution and the fact that dogs are masters of analysing human behaviour. They know exactly how to make us happy. Since most humans react when they see a dog smile—either by smiling back, making approving noises, or providing treats—the dog is rewarded for this behaviour and does it more often.

And when the dog arrives home, it just wants to play with you or please you in any way it can. A cat is the opposite: It will slowly prance around the house, glancing at you as if to say, “Prepare to worship me, oh great slave, and find me a soft bed to lie on before dinner on a silver plate. I must now look for a table to knock things from onto the floor.”

But what is the reason that dogs resemble human traits and emotions much more than any other animal? According to Deborah Custance, co-author of Animal Cognition, she told Discovery News, there is good reason to suspect dogs would be more sensitive to human emotion than other species, that we have domesticated dogs over a long period of time. We have selectively bred them to act as our companions. “Thus, dogs that responded sensitively to our emotional cues may have been the individuals that we would be more likely to keep as pets and breed from.”

Steven Stiles, writing in Pet Hub USA last February, said that both dogs and humans rely heavily on non-verbal cues to express emotions and intentions. Dogs use tail wagging, ear positioning, and body posture, while humans employ facial expressions, gestures, and posture. This shared instinct for body language allows for cross-species understanding and bonding between dogs and their human companions.

It’s difficult to know of any other animal besides a dog that seems to show a sense of shame when the owner arrives home to a trashed house. Notice how the dog almost tip-toes slowly around the chewed couch, while his face shows traces of ‘shame’, even if we don’t scold them but pet them instead.

Research also shows that petting dogs can lower anxiety and decrease blood pressure. A Japanese study found that simply looking at a dog can increase levels of oxytocin, a chemical released by the pituitary gland that’s associated with human bonding and affection.

I’ve written about this before, that growing up as a young boy, our house was never dogless. Some of our dogs often yawned in flawless union with family members and would prick up their ears and stare at the door an hour or minutes before one of us arrived home from work or shopping. In his book, Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home, biologist Rupert Sheldrake claims such uncanny behaviour is due to dogs (and cats) social/morphic fields in action.

In his book, Travels With Charley, author John Steinbeck writes about his pet poodle, Charley, who he says is a mind-reading dog. “There have been many trips in his lifetime, and often he has to be left at home. He knows we are going long before the suitcase has come out, and he paces and worries and whines and goes into a state of mild hysteria.”

Whether dogs have a genetic predisposition to occasionally read our minds in some abstract way is impossible to know for sure. But they certainly possess a bond with humans that very few animals can surpass.