Can dogs sense our emotions?

Absolutely — and there’s science to back it up.

Take contagious yawning. Yes, really. Dogs can “catch” yawns from humans, just like we do from each other. This isn’t just mimicry — in humans, contagious yawning is linked to empathy. Interestingly, the closer we are to someone emotionally, the more likely we are to catch their yawn.

Dogs are one of only two non-primate species known to do this (the other is the budgerigar — a small parrot). A 2013 study from the University of Tokyo showed that dogs were more likely to yawn after watching their owner yawn than a stranger. And since their heart rate didn’t rise, the yawning wasn’t stress-related — it was emotional connection in action.

Another study (Custance & Mayer, University of London, 2012) tested whether dogs respond empathetically to human distress. People either sat silently, hummed, or pretended to cry. Most dogs approached the crying person — even when it wasn’t their guardian. And they often showed submissive, soothing body language, suggesting empathy, not just curiosity.

And yes — dogs can tell what we’re feeling from our faces. Studies show they recognize emotional expressions in familiar humans and respond accordingly.

So no, your dog isn’t just reacting to tone of voice or routine.

They see you.

They read you.

And sometimes, they feel with you.

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Romero T., Konno, A. & Hasegawa, T., Familiarity bias and physiological responses in contagious yawning by dogs support link to empathy, PLOS ONE 2013

Deborah M. Custance, Jennifer Mayer, Empathic-like responding by domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) to distress in humans: An exploratory study, Animal Cognition, 2012, Vol 15(5), pp. 851-859