In countries with developed income, the domesticated dog has become much more than “a simple pet: it is considered a member of the family in its own right. A relatively recent phenomenon which gives rise to an asserted and assumed anthropomorphism of our hair balls. It is not rarer than the dogs adopted by millennials or members of the Gen Z have their own Insta or Tiktok. Spread, especially in Europe (there are more than 7 million domestic dogs in France), in East Asia and North America, that English speakers qualify this trend of “Fur Baby”. : luxury grooming salons, strollers, canine parks and micro-crèche … There are even restaurants for dogs!
The analogy with small children is sometimes obvious and the masters do not hide it, since some do not hesitate to affirm that it is their “child” when they speak of their dog. Rempart against loneliness, satisfaction of having a being dependent to protect and educate, feeling of being useful … The reasons why these canides are perceived as child substitutes are multiple. A team of Hungarian researchers from the Ethology Department of the Elte Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest) also looked into the issue by analyzing this phenomenon within our Western societies.
Published in the journal European Psychologist, their study highlights several factors that can explain the phenomenon of analogy between dogs and children. One of them is that the cognitive capacities and the adaptability of dogs to human communication allow them to adopt a wide range of social behavior, often comparable to the babbling of babies. But their morphology could also play a role in this association. Researchers make a link between the attraction for small dogs, in particular those of the brachycephalic races of which French bulldogs and carlins are part, which can be assimilated to infant lines and seem as “helpless, harmless and innocent as young children”.
Dogs perceived as children … but not quite like humans
In light of these arguments, we understand better why some and some of them self-proclaim “dog parents” rather than “masters” or “owners”. Parents maybe, but with a few nuances, however! “Despite the great dependence and the attachment of dogs to their masters, in the eyes of many, the commitments linked to the possession of a dog remain less heavy than those linked to the education of a child”, underlines Laura Gillet, doctoral student in the Department of Ethology and co-author of the study, in a press release. Another difference: dogs living less than humans, their masters generally start from the principle that they will survive them – which is obviously not the case with a child.
“If some masters consider their dog as a child’s substitute to spoil, others actively choose to have dogs and not children, keeping in mind that they have characteristics specific to the species and that they cannot be considered as children”, specify the authors of the works. The latter therefore reassure us by stressing that, unlike a received idea, only a small minority of dog owners really treat their animals as human children. “In the majority of cases, the parents of dogs choose to have a dog precisely because he is not like a child, and they recognize his specific needs for his species,” explains Enikő Kubinyi, co-author of the study.
These Hungarian researchers are not at their first try. Last month, the latter carried out another study published in the journal Scientific Reports. Led with more than 700 dog owners, research compared the relationships we have with our dogs to those we have with our loved ones. The results reveal that in the eyes of their master, a dog is not limited to his role as a faithful companion: he combines both the qualities of a child and those of a best friend. It arouses a feeling of security and awakens the need for protection, as a child would do, while offering a peaceful relationship, without conflicts, like a deep friendship.