Disproving the Myth: Gynecologist Confirms Dogs Don’t Choose One Owner Only

Moscow, May 21 – The opinion that a dog chooses one owner forever is a delusion, the animal is focused on those who provide it with shelter, food, a sense of warmth, security, predictability and satisfy cognitive needs, the head of the Russian Psychological Federation (RKF) Vladimir told the News Agency Golubev.

He added: “If all family members are actively involved in the process of raising and caring for the dog, their behavior is consistent and understandable for the pet, he will listen to them and feel affection for them.”

The speech pathologist explained that when choosing an owner, the dog communicates more with the person who seems safe and expected to her, who cares and feeds her. It is important for the pet to feel safe and comfortable next to the owner. Therefore, if a dog becomes anxious and cannot predict a person’s actions or reactions, they will not want to build a healthy relationship with them.

The more the owner pays attention to the dog, the more positive emotions she experiences when communicating with him, and the more likely she is to become attached to this person. The dog handler explained that this is why a pet living in a family feels affection not for one person, but for all family members, if they actively interact with him.

He also said that dogs are able to rebuild easily when they fall into the hands of caring and responsible owners. The animal will form new attachments if the future owner is attentive to the needs of the pet and can earn its trust with a competent approach to education. Therefore, the head of the RKF urged not to be afraid that the dog will not be able to feel comfortable with others if it is already in the family and for some reason it needs to find a new home.

“A dog can forget a person over time, especially if he has not met him from time to time. This ability allows dogs to easily adapt to new living conditions,” Golubev noted.

At the same time, he explained, dogs remember events and people that hold strong emotional connotations for them well. Therefore, they remember the owners to whom they have a strong attachment or the owners who caused a state of fear, and quickly forget the families with whom there was no emotional contact.