# Animals (Dogs) detecting human pain **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 8, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-dogs-detecting-human-pain/605537 "2011-12-08T18:07:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-dogs-detecting-human-pain/605537/1 "2011-12-08T18:07:23Z")
Hello Again, I suffer from chronic pain due to FBSS (Failed Back Surgery Syndrome) and while I can control it most of the time through medication, there are times when the meds fail and I am in terrible pain. This usually happens at night while sleeping and it wakes me up. My wife is sleeping so I try not to make any noise or move around. What I have noticed however is that our Chow/Sheppard mix seems to be aware of when I am in pain and does his best to comfort me and check on me. The reason I mention trying to be quite at night is I could see him being concerned if I was moaning and such, but I am not really showing any outward signs. Sometimes I will wake up and then he will come over, but last night he woke me by gently licking my face, then sitting next to me for about an hour until the pain subsided. I know this isn’t unique to my dog, so what gives? How is it that animals are able to detect when you are in pain even though it may not be very obvious. They are certainly caring creatures aren’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-dogs-detecting-human-pain/605537/2 "2011-12-08T18:22:15Z")
Dogs have been selected for many thousands of years to be able to pick up on human emotional cues, even very subtle ones. Even though you think you are not giving any outward cues, the dog may well be picking up something like changes in your breathing rate (even when you are asleep). He may not even realize that you are in pain specifically, just that you give him positive reinforcement in some way when he approaches you when you are giving signals that you are in pain. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-dogs-detecting-human-pain/605537/3 "2011-12-08T18:36:49Z")
Also dogs can smell certain conditions which humans cannot (e.g. some forms of cancer). Perhaps something associated with your condition or your body’s response to the pain can be smelled by your dog? Hearing too…you might not be making enough noise to disturb your wife but it might be plenty for the dog to notice. > [@obbn](#): > > They are certainly caring creatures aren’t they? It’s nice to think that, and I do like dogs myself. But they’re pack animals, and it thinks you’re head of the pack (or at least more senior). And we’ve bred dogs for behaviours that look like affection. Whether they actually feel those emotions and to what degree though, is hard to say. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-dogs-detecting-human-pain/605537/4 "2011-12-08T19:12:25Z")
Dogs don’t communicate by talking. They communicate with smells and body language. Their ability to pick up on your moods and intentions through your unconscious body language seems amazing to you, but to them you just announced it in loud, clear, unambiguous language. They probably think it’s weird that you exchange information through complicated sounds but are oblivious when dogs try to tell you something using body language. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-dogs-detecting-human-pain/605537/5 "2011-12-08T19:46:00Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > They probably think it’s weird that you exchange information through complicated sounds but are oblivious when dogs try to tell you something using body language. “Dude! Stop yelling at me! I was _telling_ you I had to go outside, and you completely missed it!!” ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-dogs-detecting-human-pain/605537/6 "2011-12-08T19:48:19Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > “Dude! Stop yelling at me! I was _telling_ you I had to go outside, and you completely missed it!!” Pretty much, yeah! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-dogs-detecting-human-pain/605537/7 "2011-12-08T19:55:54Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > They probably think it’s weird that you exchange information through complicated sounds but are oblivious when dogs try to tell you something using body language. Or as the Far Side cartoon “What dogs really hear” put it, all dogs hear when you scold them is “Blah blah blah blah blah GINGER blah blah blah GINGER blah blah blah.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-dogs-detecting-human-pain/605537/8 "2011-12-08T20:13:02Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Or as the Far Side cartoon “What dogs really hear” put it, all dogs hear when you scold them is “Blah blah blah blah blah GINGER blah blah blah GINGER blah blah blah.” 🙂 Very true, however our Pomeranian (ie: cat) has a vocabulary of about 30 distinct words he can understand and respond appropriately. Our Chow/Sheppard has about 7 or 8 and Gunner the Great Dane while being my favorite and cute as can be seems to be dumber than a brick! ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-dogs-detecting-human-pain/605537/9 "2011-12-08T20:27:48Z")
Dogs can learn a lot of words. A border collie can handle 200 or so words, IIRC. Other breeds less, but a heck of a lot more than 7 or 8. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-dogs-detecting-human-pain/605537/10 "2011-12-08T20:50:29Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Dogs can learn a lot of words. A border collie can handle 200 or so words, IIRC. Other breeds less, but a heck of a lot more than 7 or 8. Our Chow/Sheppard is only a year old. He possibly knows more than that, I can’t really remember. But my wife Pomeranian does impress me with his ability to almost understand what you are saying. Not just the typical doggie stuff, but you can talk in sentences to him and he seems to grasp what is being said. Then he meows and he’s on his way.😛 ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-dogs-detecting-human-pain/605537/11 "2011-12-08T21:16:53Z")
It’s shepherd (a truncated form of sheep herd/herder); not “sheppard.” That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-dogs-detecting-human-pain/605537/12 "2011-12-08T21:45:42Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > Not just the typical doggie stuff, but you can talk in sentences to him and he seems to grasp what is being said. Yeah. About that. He doesn’t. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-dogs-detecting-human-pain/605537/13 "2011-12-08T23:27:26Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Yeah. About that. He doesn’t. 😉 Well, prior to getting to know this dog, I would have thought the same. But you can for example, be walking down the sidewalk with him (unleashed) and say something like “Oreo, walk a little more towards the right side” and in a few seconds there he goes to the right side. Or other things that certainly aren’t taught commands. He does seem fairly intelligent for a dog, too bad that he is a “toy” breed and not a real dog. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-dogs-detecting-human-pain/605537/14 "2011-12-09T01:14:05Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > “Dude! Stop yelling at me! I was _telling_ you I had to go outside, and you completely missed it!!” “Yeah, but couldn’t you have at least done it on the linoleum, numbnuts?” ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-dogs-detecting-human-pain/605537/15 "2011-12-09T01:23:23Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > Well, prior to getting to know this dog, I would have thought the same. But you can for example, be walking down the sidewalk with him (unleashed) and say something like “Oreo, walk a little more towards the right side” and in a few seconds there he goes to the right side. Or other things that certainly aren’t taught commands. He does seem fairly intelligent for a dog, too bad that he is a “toy” breed and not a real dog. He’s not understanding your sentences. Possibly there’s an element of confirmation bias combined with him picking up your body cues. But he doesn’t understand English. The [world record](http://news.discovery.com/animals/border-collie-breaks-vocabulary-record.html) is the names of 1000 objects (a border collie, of course). Prior to that was Rico, a fairly famous border collie who knew 200 words. These were just associating single words with objects or actions, though; mere rote memorization and are world record holders which went through extensive multi-year training processes to get them to do that. I’ve never seen a dog handle sentence structure. If your Oreo really can do that - you’re rich! Cash in, quick! 🙂