Why dogs can't help falling in love

Animal behaviourist Clive Wynne argues that a dog’s ability to bond has more to do with forming emotional attachments than being smart about what humans want.

Researcher Clive Wynne at home with his dog Xephos. "It's not strange that she wants to interact with me. What's strange is that she wants to be friends with you." The New York Times

James Gorman

Dec 21, 2019 – 12.15am

Email LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

Subscribe to gift this article

Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.

Subscribe now

Already a subscriber?

Xephos is not the author of Dog Is Love: Why and How Your Dog Loves You, one of the latest books to plumb the nature of dogs, but she helped inspire it. And as I scratch behind her ears, it is easy to see why.

First, she fixes on me with imploring doggy eyes, asking for my attention. Then, every time I stop scratching she nudges her nose under my hand and flips it up. I speak a little dog, but the message would have been clear even if I didn't: don't stop.