14 DAY TRIAL // Dogs are among a select few animals that can break the species barrier, and mirror behaviors they see in humans. Sadness or joy are easily transmitted from a person to Fido, and sometimes even vice versa.
Yawning is an excellent example of this. Scientists say that this behavior may be a manifestation of empathy, both between humans and between dogs and humans. The average person yawns more when they are with someone else than when alone, Science Now reports.
What I find particularly amazing about how empathic dogs are is the fact that they tend to yawn when they hear their owners do the same, not just when they see the behavior. My own dogs do the same, and my mother yawns after the dogs do it. The fact that the influence is reciprocal is amazing.
Experts believe that these types of interactions are the result of thousands of years of co-evolution. In order to be accepted by humans, and increase their chances of survival, dogs needed to renounce their aggressiveness, and become capable of understanding human emotions.