Why Do Dogs Like Me More Than Others?

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Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

For centuries now, dogs have been known as man’s best friend because dogs are very loyal and loving creatures. A happy dog lives to please and delight its owner and will be content with just that. Despite being very cheerful and selfless, dogs can also be picky when it comes to choosing human friends. Yes, you read that right. 

If you’ve ever found yourself with a group of friends and a totally strange dog singles you out for attention or you’ve noticed that strange dogs are particularly drawn to you even when you try to ignore them and mind your business. Well, you just might be one of those that dogs find attractive. 

Now, the question of why dogs are drawn to you or anyone doesn’t have a clear-cut answer. But for starters, it has a lot to do with your body language and how you act. Dogs are very sensitive and keen observers and by simply looking at a person, they can tell if that person will treat them exactly how they love to be treated. 

If a dog enjoys the company of very calm people and this is your nature, except such a dog to approach you. Dogs are also able to sense a person’s energy through subtle cues like body language, tone of voice and facial expression, this is a basic dog instinct. 

Dogs pick up whatever energy someone gives off and will relate to that person accordingly. If the energy they pick up from you reminds them of someone who was nice to them, they’ll certainly be drawn to you. People who attract dogs and animals in general, give off the right kind of energy. 

[1] Why do dogs like certain people more than others?

Dogs are generally very friendly creatures, but sometimes they tend to warm up to certain people and not others, this can be quite puzzling. Every dog owner will have noticed at some point that his/her dog is drawn to some people while avoiding some others. This is an interesting dog behaviour, but why is that? Why do dogs behave this way? 

In a bid to understand this, a group of Japanese researchers at Kyoto University in Japan studied how dogs interact with their owners’ friends and here’s what they found. Dogs very keenly observe how people behave towards their owners in social gatherings. As very sensitive creatures, they monitor how a person interacts with their owners, and they form opinions based on what they observe. 

For instance, if a person has been unhelpful, uncooperative or slightly mean to you, your furry friend will perceive that person as unfriendly and will start to avoid and snub such a person. This cold and unfriendly behaviour will continue even when the “perceived mean person” tries to be friendly to your dog and even offers her treats. 

If you carefully think this through, you’ll realize that it isn’t very different from how we humans behave. If you’ve ever formed an opinion on someone based on an observation, you’ll understand exactly what’s running through your dog’s mind. 

Another reason dogs will embrace certain strangers while avoiding others will depend on how they think you’ll treat them. Despite being well-socialized, very shy and timid dogs will prefer people who are more reserved to boisterous and hyper-active people. 

Dogs are very good at reading body languages and if she senses that you’ll likely ruffle her up and that’s something she isn’t particularly comfortable with, that dog will certainly stay away from you. 

[2] Why do dogs bark at certain people?

Sometimes, a well-socialized dog that’s usually cool with almost everyone will suddenly start barking at a random stranger. This can be very odd, especially when it has nothing to do with protecting its owner. While dogs are very loyal and protective of their owners, a dog may be provoked into becoming aggressive and barking at someone for some other reasons, and here are a few.

The person’s smell upset the dog: with a very active sense of smell, it’s not surprising that the first thing a dog senses about other dogs or humans is how they smell. And dogs recognize people (and other dogs) with their smell. When a dog interacts with a strange person, it’ll first sense how the person smells and if this smell is offensive to the dog, it’ll likely bark at that person. 

The person’s look upset the dog: a dog can also find a person’s look upsetting. If a stranger looks a certain way or is behaving in a way that is threatening to a dog, this may evoke an aggressive response from the dog. This is worse if the dog has been abused in the past and the stranger has a keen resemblance to the abuser. Things like gender, race, and physical resemblance to the dog’s abuser will certainly upset the poor creature and elicit a negative response like aggressive barking.  

The person threatened or was rude to the dog’s owner: the most obvious reason why a dog will be angry and bark at someone is when the person is unkind or aggressive to the owner. If you behave badly towards a dog owner in the presence of their dog, expect the dog to dislike you, possibly bark at you, snub and refuse to interact with you in the future.

[3] How do dogs choose their favourite human?

Just like humans, dogs have favourite persons too. As you would expect, a dog’s favourite person will be her/his walker or feeder, but it isn’t that simple. Being a dog’s regular walker or feeder won’t immediately qualify you as a dog’s favourite person because dogs need more than just food and exercise. 

Dogs are very affectionate creatures, and they enjoy being groomed and petted and shown affection. In addition to food and exercise, dogs also crave affection and will bond more easily when you play with them. Once a dog can associate your presence with play and lots of fun and affection, he/she will become very attached to you. This has little to do with food and a lot to do with fun activities, memorable experiences and quality time. 

If you can constantly evoke the ‘feel good feeling’ in your dog, you’ll definitely become his/her favourite person. While this may seem simple, you’ll also have to remember that all dogs are not the same and different dog breeds have unique personalities therefore there is no straightforward way to becoming a dog’s favourite person. 

[4] Can dogs sense negative energy?

It’s no secret that dogs are very sensitive creatures. They are able to recognize happy or angry faces and can tell when someone is upset from body language and tone of voice. 

Studies have shown that dogs are able to detect human emotions, and they can sense negative energy from a person’s body language and voice tone. And in most cases, they do this much better than humans. 

This explains why a cheerful and friendly dog can suddenly become uneasy for no obvious reason. When your canine senses negative energy, her reaction will mirror that energy but how she reacts will depend entirely on her personality. A dog can become fearful, anxious, or aggressive and defensive in response to perceived negativism. 

Even before you know that something isn’t right, your pooch would have already sensed it and if you observe your dog’s behaviour you’ll notice a remarkable change. Timid dogs may react to negative energy by whining or tucking their tail and hiding while very bold dogs may growl, bare their teeth or bark at whoever is making them uncomfortable. 

[5] What does it mean if a dog doesn’t like you?

Well-socialized and properly trained dogs are generally very comfortable around all sorts of people. But sometimes you may find a well-behaved and cheerful dog getting uncomfortable around certain people, this may be unusual and difficult to understand. 

First, you should always remember that a dog has an excellent sense of smell with which it picks up even the faintest smell. And since dogs are always around humans, their smell senses are already accustomed to the ‘human smell’. When this smell isn’t what a dog is used to, it could become a source of distress and you see him/her becoming disturbed or nervous. A usual smell from a person can upset a dog and make him/her dislike the person with that smell. 

Besides this, a dog can also not like a person because of other subtle things like a person’s look, dressing, gender, voice, jewelleries, etc. Dogs can be mysterious in their own way, some are drawn to women while other dogs are more comfortable around men. Some dogs dislike very boisterous and loud people while some see them as cool. Some can’t stand kids while others practically adore them. 

Dogs are sweet and cute creatures, but they can be complicated too. There really isn’t one simple rule that determines exactly why a dog doesn’t like someone, it all depends on the life experiences of the poor creature and a combination of the factors above. 

Wrapping Up

Dogs are more intelligent than we take them to be. As very social creatures they’re able to pick up subtle social cues and can sense human emotions. Besides their exceptional sense of smell, our furry friends have the ability to tell when a person will treat them right and will be drawn to such a person. 

If you notice that dogs are particularly drawn to you, it could be that they sense your energy through your body language, voice and facial expression. Even how you dress, what you look like and your gender will determine if a dog will find you attractive.

James