Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism means to transfer human characteristics, emotions, behaviour or motivation to non human creatures, especially to our pets. It’s probable that much of the challenging behaviour our pets show is down to our anthropomorphism, giving rise to more focus on animal psychology. 

Without an emotional bond, we are unlikely to have pets, except perhaps purely for a function, like a guard dog or a cat to keep away vermin. Yet, this emotional bond can lead to issues. Many people look on and treat their pets like little people. There could be a correlation between the fact that the number of children per household in the western world is reducing and the number of pets is increasing. Pet owners affectionately refer to themselves as moms and dads to their loved creatures. 

When we do share such a deep emotional space with animals, it’s easy to understand how some blurring occurs between our objective and logical understanding of how an animal operates and what we project onto them. For example, owners who treat a dog like a person might project a sense of responsibility that the dog is incapable of understanding, like punishing him when he ‘knows he’s done something wrong.’ He may have no idea it’s wrong, just cowers when he senses your displeasure. We might see a response in a dog that we attribute to a human emotion, but can just be an example of how dogs imitate us.

Mostly, anthropomorphism involves interpreting animals’ actions, expressions and motivations with more depth than they are capable of feeling. Dogs, particularly, are so good at blending happily into human lives it’s easy to understand why we believe their motivations and feelings are the same as ours.

In a Swiss study, 64 dog owners were shown pictures and video clips of dogs interacting with other dogs and humans. Non dog owners were shown the same visuals. Both groups correctly identified dogs’ facial expressions with things like fear and curiosity. However, the dog owners also attributed feelings like anger and jealousy, which the non dog owners did not.

The commercial world takes advantage of peoples’ emotional relationship with pets and uses it to sell products, adding to their ‘humanisation’. Adverts and movies portray pets as humans and the retail industry sells human clothes and accessories designed for them.

Much as we love them, pets are not human, they are animals and only capable of feeling and thinking like an animal of their species. It creates a much more harmonious environment for both humans and pets when we understand this. These points illustrate how you can develop a healthy, loving human/animal relationship with your pet:

• From a pet’s point of view, when they arrive at your home they become a member of your pack (rather than family). They will be instinctively working out who holds what place in the pecking order of that pack. 
• Naturally, you want to establish yourself as pack leader. If you give constant affection without any limits or rules, a dog in particular will interpret this as him being equal to you which could lead to trouble. 
• Animals need boundaries and limitations to let them know, first of all that you’re in charge and you make the rules and secondly to know how they must behave in order to be accepted in the pack. This must always be done in a ‘loving guidance’ kind of way. 
• Feeding time is a big signal to animals as to who’s ahead of them in the pack hierarchy. Those who eat first are at the top – never feed your animal ahead of yourself or your family. Wait until you’ve had at least some food before feeding them. 
• Animals are equipped with the ability to deal independently with situations and stresses. If you believe your dog is anxious, for example, and comfort her, you deny her the ability to develop resilience herself so she withstands the next similar situation. She gets the message that she needs you to make it alright and stays anxious. By sharing the fear, she also sees you as a weak pack leader - not good.

What’s important to remember is that interpreting your pet’s behaviour or reactions through a human lens instead of an animal lens can lead to misinterpretation of what’s really going on. Small issues can turn into ongoing ones and challenging behaviour can escalate. We hope that by the end of this course, you’ll have a better understanding of your pet and can enjoy a truly loving bond that benefits both of you.