Dogs evolved specific abilities to form unique relationships with others. Their relationships with others are very important because it can help grow the bond between the two. Remi has a very good bond with his whole human family, especially his mom, as well as other dogs. In a recent study, researchers compared the relationships between dogs and humans and dogs and other dogs to try and prove their hypothesis.<\/p>\n
Throughout their experiment, researchers used a bottom-up approach to analyze the behavior in both dog and human bonds. A total of 70 participants, 35 dog-dog and 29 dog-human dyads, were compared. Each were tested outdoors and included four episodes: exploration of an unfamiliar environment, separation from the partner, reunion with the partner and a novel object test (Cimarelli et al., 2019). They conducted a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to reduce the number of variables from both the dog-human and dog-dog interactions. The results from their analysis revealed that dogs\u2019 relationships are characterized by three components: reference 22.86%, affiliation 16.47%, and stress 13.70% (Cimarelli et al., 2019). They found that the type of relationship predicts how dogs react to a social threat. This suggests that dogs can form relationships with both humans and other dogs, and that these relationships vary along multiple components.<\/p>\n
In Remi\u2019s case, this study helps to show why he can form relationships with both humans and other dogs. Even though he has a strong natural relationship with his human family, he is still able to build relationships with other dogs. The results also help to show how he could use his relationships as a reaction to certain social threats i.e., with other dogs that may be in harm’s way.<\/p>\n
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