What Does My Dog Think About All Day? You Might Be Surprised!

Dogs have levels of cognition similar to that of toddlers! Dogs might think about many things all day, but they’re likely thinking more “selfish” thoughts. Dogs might think about things they love, like food, toys, and owners. They might also think about their routines or wants. Studies have shown that dogs have a grasp of object permanence (things aren’t gone if the dog can no longer see them) and feel basic emotions.

This can mean they might think about problem-solving connected to their needs like a toddler would, such as “I’m hungry; where do I get food?” Like toddlers, dogs can also think about what they should and shouldn’t do and the consequences of certain actions. Researchers showed this in a study undertaken in Germany, which concluded that dogs were more likely to eat foods classified as “forbidden” when not in their owner’s line of sight, meaning they thought about the action and its consequences.¹

Do Dogs Have Thoughts?

A dog’s thoughts are similar in intent and purpose to ours, but they significantly differ in how they think. While the thoughts aren’t in words and pictures like ours are, dogs likely think in images and smells. This is a complex concept for us to grasp! But a dog’s sense of smell is one of its strongest senses and is what they use together with eyesight and hearing to make sense of the world around them.

However, research shows that dogs can comprehend some of our language, meaning that fragments or links to certain words may be present in your dog’s thoughts.² For example, they might think about a command they know and its associated word, reinforcing it in their brain.

How much time a dog will dedicate to “thinking” and what exactly they think about is down to the individual and is impossible to determine. However, observing your dog’s behavior can be incredibly insightful and provide a glimpse of their thoughts.

Body Language

Watching a dog’s body language and behavior can help us understand what a dog thinks about, as they often betray their thoughts through actions. A dog that looks for and finds its ball might be thinking about playing, for example. A dog that picks up its empty food bowl and brings it to its owner is probably thinking about food.

Likewise, if your dog comes up to you and places their head or paw in your lap, looking to be petted, they’re likely thinking about receiving affection. Research has found that even young puppies are adept at understanding gestures and intent from humans, meaning that puppies have thoughts and make connections just as older dogs do!

For example, the puppies in the study understood human pointing gestures; this meant they had thoughts related to what the pointing meant, processed the ideas, and understood their intention. All at 8 weeks old! This gives us an insight into how canine minds work and explains how dog learning can shape a dog’s thoughts.

What Do Dogs Mostly Think About?

Dogs most likely think about their basic needs at one particular moment. If they want food, toys, or their owners, they’ll concentrate on that more than anything else. Dogs are very present in the moment and mostly think about what they want or need right at that second, and won’t think about the future or their past (in the same way that we do). If a dog is playing with their ball, it’ll be focused on and thinking about the ball as it is now.

However, dogs can also anticipate their owner’s arrival and think about them coming home, which shows they can think ahead to some degree. Dogs might also think about their owners’ thoughts, including identifying their emotions. This is called the “theory of mind,” or identifying that other creatures have thoughts. While dogs have passed several tests on the theory of mind, there are tests they have failed as well; the jury is out on whether dogs can truly understand and recognize what their owners also think.

Do Dogs Feel Emotions?

Dogs have the same emotional range as a 2-year-old, and they can feel the basic emotions of happiness and joy, fear, sadness, anger, disgust, and love. However, dogs can’t feel or learn more than this, so they cannot feel shame or guilt (although they sometimes look like they can!).

Dogs can also link these feelings to people or actions. For example, they may think about how much they love their owners or how sad they are when scolded. However, these are very “in the moment” thoughts as dogs live in the present, and they can learn from these emotions and thoughts.

Dog training uses a dog’s emotions and ability to think; a dog that is joyful when it gets a treat will link the treat to the action it performed when its owners gave a certain command. That entire process will depend on a dog’s ability to recognize the joy in the treat or praise, link it to the action and command, and think about acting to get the reward. Much of this linking is an unconscious act relying on dopamine and areas of your dog’s brain activating, but the praise they receive can sometimes be more of a draw than any treats are!

Dogs can also tell which emotions people are feeling by their facial expressions alone. A study in Vienna looked at how well dogs could discern emotion from pictures of human faces, both full and half images. It found that dogs could reliably identify emotions from facial expressions on full and half-face pictures, including pictures of people they hadn’t met before. This shows that dogs understand emotions more deeply and can think about and recognize them in humans and themselves.

Final Thoughts

Dogs are capable thinkers and can process information at the same level as toddlers. Because of this, they likely think about their own wants and needs throughout the day and anticipate when their owner is coming home or what “might happen next.” While we can’t exactly see what dogs are thinking, their thoughts are likely different from ours due to how they see the world. While humans often think in pictures and words, dogs might think in smells and pictures since smell is one of their keenest senses. Ultimately, dogs live in the moment apart from small jumps into the past or the future, so they are likely thinking about what they’re doing right at that second.

See also: 

• Does My Dog Think Humans Are Dogs? The Surprising Answer!
• Do Dogs Think Stuffed Animals Are Real? Signs & Reasons

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Featured Image Credit: Maxxja, Pixabay