Do Dogs View Their Owners As Parents?

do our dogs think of us as parents

When I was little and living on the East Coast, I remember going to the local shelter with my mom to pick out a pet dog. It was the first dog I was going to have since the German Shepherd mix we’d had (since before I was born) passed away.

Teeming with excitement, we picked out a hefty yellow-and-black dog that the shelter described as an American Akita mix (but we’ll never really know). Mom named her Angel for how gentle she was with the family, and we brought her home that day.

Maybe shelters at the time just weren’t what they are today, but Angel came with quite a surprise: puppies.

A few weeks after bringing her home, the new dog we adopted had nine puppies in our living room. I remember having to leave for school while she was in labor, and coming home to a tiny zoo. For several weeks, my seven-year-old self was on cloud nine surrounded by puppies and volunteering at every opportunity to help.

When they were old enough, my parents put an ad in the paper, which is what you did at the time, and sent the puppies off on a “free to a good home” basis.

We did keep one, though: a male with beautiful markings akin to those of Beagles and Foxhounds. Mom named him Spot, and the rest of the puppies each went off to their respective homes over the course of a month or two.

We raised him alongside his mom and, much to my dismay at the time, finally had a chance to breathe.

Do Dogs View Us As Parents?

A lot of humans see themselves as “parents” to their pet dogs. Many younger people, especially, are faced with an uncertain world and much more willing to channel their caretaking urges into a pet. Understandably, these dog parents wonder if their pet returns those sentiments.

And there is definitely some evidence to support the idea!

One peer-reviewed study from PLOS One in May 2013 describes how the relationship between pet dogs and their owners may be akin to how human infants relate to their caregivers when interacting with their environment.

The study from Clever Dog Lab tests a set of pet dogs without separation issues around their owners in a manipulative problem-solving task. Dogs were first tested against their owner being absent, then present but silent, then present and interactive/”encouraging.” Finally, the pet dogs were tested against the presence of strangers.

The results of this study found that dogs increased duration of engagement with the puzzle apparatus in their owners’ presence, regardless of whether or not their owner was silent or encouraging. And the presence of a stranger human did not increase engagement or duration of the task.

The full study can be found here.

happy woman with dog near trees and fence

This study does show a correlation between activity and handler presence that seems to provide distinct evidence in favor of owner bonding and, in turn, influence on behavior.

In humans, this is called the “secure base effect” and describes how young children, infants in particular, will use the presence of their parents as a “secure base” of comfort when interacting with their environment.

From a trainer’s perspective, this is a great indication of how what we call “dog-handler relationship” impacts a dog’s willingness to work as well as their overall comfort and confidence in new environments. It’s been seen over and over again how dogs will often “work better” for a handler they have worked with before, and this study only reinforces what we’ve been experiencing on a practical basis.

For sake of scientific fairness, it’s important to remember that any single study is not enough to support the conclusions given as irrevocable fact, and to note that it seems this experiment has not been repeated, recreated, or studied any further in other experiments. (And I will happily update this article if and when follow-up studies take place.)

However, this study is evidence of what many already suspect, what dog trainers and dog moms alike have been describing for years (albeit from different emotional perspectives). It is a wonderful place to start when it comes to further studying dog-handler relationship on an academic level.

Do Dogs Treat Their Owners as Parents?

However, it’s also important when diving into the “parental” relationship between dog owners and their pets, to actually take a step back and look at the social perceptions of dogs vs. humans. Especially when it comes to how dogs treat their owners, and how we expect them to be based on our very real bond with them.

I mentioned that when my family’s new rescue dog had puppies way back then, we kept one puppy. Over the next year, he grew into an adult dog alongside his actual canine mother as well as my parents, who were more appropriately his “caregivers” throughout his life.

Spot did not treat any of them like you would expect a human child (in childhood or adulthood) to treat their parents.

With us, Spot was somewhat hot-and-cold in terms of affection and obedience. He got away with a lot and his bad behaviors were never countered with any significant training, so he ended up with a host of unwanted but self-motivating habits.

As he grew into his full size, Spot also grew in boldness and pushiness with his actual canine mother, the dog we adopted from the shelter. He would always eat first and resource guard from her, herd or “police” her if he didn’t like what she was up to, and was generally “the guy in charge.” The days of looking to her for care and seeing her the way we’d think of “mom” were long gone.

The point is, dogs don’t even treat their actual parents like parents. Or, at least not how humans tend to treat their parents. They just don’t have the same social ideas that we do.

Whether or not dogs even have a concept of “parent” as opposed to simply “bonded individual” with a unique-to-them relationship isn’t known, but I frankly doubt it from my experience working with dogs for so many years. But I do know that dogs do not treat caregivers, human or otherwise, as we would expect humans to treat theirs (that being, in healthy parent relationships: with a certain level of love, trust, and respect).

When it comes to animal behavior, motivation is always the name of the game.

how to care for a senior dog

Do Dogs Love Their Owners Like Parents?

The thing is, whether or not a dog actually can conceive the idea of “parent” doesn’t truly matter.

Because regardless of what type of bond it is, and regardless of what kind of relationship concepts dogs even understand, that bond is there and it is very real.

Pet dogs bond to their owners, working dogs bond to handlers, and I see a shift in trust and behavior with each board-and-train dog I take in as a professional dog trainer. And the thing about these bonds is that each relationship is different and unique.

While as a trainer I think many dog owners put too much emphasis on the idea of “love” as a solution to all problems, I also fully believe that most pet dogs do have a bond with their owners that can easily be described as “love.”

The important thing is to not let the idea of pet “parenthood” keep you from providing the needs your dog has, as a dog. Don’t replace walks with TV time. Don’t replace training with trying to “love away” unwanted behaviors. Don’t trade support and standards for passiveness and pity. Your dog may be your “child,” just know that you still need to care for them in a way that speaks to their needs as an adult dog; not like a literal human child.

As long as it is still understood and respected that your dog is, at the end of the day, an animal with animal needs and behaviors, you hurt no one by calling your dog your “child” or yourself their “parent.” And you can rest assured that, chances are, your dog adores you right back.

Author: Kimberlee Tolentino

Kimee has worked hands-on with dogs for over ten years, and today serves the role of head trainer and owner at Lugaru K9 Training in Port Orchard, Washington. Kimee has been a shelter volunteer, a dog walker, dog behavior intern, a dog trainer, and now specializes in behavior modification for pet dogs.