If you’re a dog parent, you’ll likely notice your dog imitating or mimicking some of your behaviors at some point. Most dog parents find this quite cute as their beloved pet is starting to show similar personality traits to their own personality. But why does this happen? And why do dogs imitate their owners?

While multiple factors affect your dog and the way it behaves, one of the biggest reasons why dogs imitate us is because they are pack animals. However, there are other factors that we’ll discuss throughout the article.

Being pack animals means that dogs have natural instincts to observe and behave like the leader of their pack, which is, in this case—you. So, for dogs, imitating comes naturally, and it’s not something they can really control.

Keep reading to learn more about dogs imitating their owners, why such behavior occurs, and which habits dogs adopt from their owners.

 

Research On Dogs Imitating People

A study from 2010 about automatic imitation in dogs was an interesting experiment showing how imitation is something dogs typically can’t prevent.

This study followed 10 adult dogs and their owners. Each of the dogs went through training to open a sliding door using their paws or heads after watching their owner use one of the two options to perform the same task.

They divided the dogs into two groups:

Although one group of dogs was supposed to get treats for doing the opposite from their owners, those dogs were also mimicking their human companions. These canines did the same movement as their owner, knowing they wouldn’t get a treat afterward, which shows that dogs have a tendency to automatically mimic our behaviors, regardless of other factors.

Besides mimicking your behavior, there’s also a study from 2019 that showed that dogs can model the personality traits of their owners. While people mostly pick their dogs based on personality, it looks like our canine friends are somewhat capable of tuning their personalities to our own.

The study came to this conclusion as the owners had to do the “Big Five Test,” which includes rating their and their dog’s personalities through five categories:

Every owner ranked their personality similar to the ranking of their pet, which shows their personalities became somewhat alike—or that’s at least how they feel.

So, Why Does Your Dog Keep Imitating You?

As we mentioned earlier, dogs are pack animals, so they’ll do whatever it takes to fit in. While dogs observe us as leaders of the pack, they also want to be our friends and companions, which they may try to prove by acting like us.

Because of their nature, dogs will likely observe you and try to follow through with the same action. As long as such behavior isn’t harmful, there’s no need to discourage your dog, and you could take the imitating habit to your advantage.

How Can I Take Advantage of This Behavior?

Dogs learn by observing and repeating, which is one of the reasons they mimic people so frequently. Luckily, you can use the mimicking your dog does to your advantage, especially when learning new tricks.

If your dog likes to imitate you, try to show a behavior or an action during training instead of saying a command or giving hand signs. When teaching your dog to sit, try sitting on the ground to allow your dog to pick up and mimic the behavior. If you want to teach your canine to shake hands, use your hand and make a hand-shaking gesture.

Your dog will learn faster once it sees the action from you, and the training will be far more efficient.

Habits That Dogs Adopt from Their Owners

While dogs can mimic many types of human behavior, there are certain things that most dogs adopt from humans. Most of the habits dogs pick up from us are intuitive, and your canines are simply adapting to life with you.

Here are some of the most common habits our furry friends adopt from us:

Sleeping

While dogs typically sleep more during the day than at night, they can easily adapt to your sleeping schedule. This change is especially noticeable for people who allow their dogs to share their beds. Those dogs tend to switch to more nighttime sleeping when they typically feel more content, comfortable, and secure.

Talking

Some dogs are naturally vocal and like to express themselves by barking and making different sounds. If vocal dogs spend a lot of time near their owner, and the owner likes to speak to them, the canine will likely bark back to answer.

If you positively react to your canine-human “conversations,” your dog will likely follow through and “talk” to you frequently.

Eating

If you adjust your dog’s eating schedule to your personal eating schedule, your dog will likely start to get hungry at the same time you do. Because of this, it’s important to make a routine and feed your canine friend at the same time every day to avoid unwanted behaviors.

Exercise

Dogs need daily walks and exercise to blow off some steam and remain healthy. If you have a particular exercise routine you practice with your dog; your dog will get used to it and probably expect it every time. It’s not uncommon for dogs to get sad or aggravated if they’re used to exercising every day, but you don’t have the time to take them exercising.

Emotions and Traits

It’s also common for dogs to mimic emotions from their human companions—when you’re excited, your canine will probably get excited too. Or, if you are sad, your furry friend can also seem sad.

Canines pick up on our emotions, and they frequently mimic how we feel. For example, if you’re affectionate, your dog might become affectionate as well. However, this also counts for stress and anxiety. People who are anxious or go through a lot of stress will likely transfer the same feelings onto their dogs.

Final Thoughts

Dogs imitate their owners for multiple reasons, although it’s because they’re pack animals, and they go through something called automatic imitation. While your dog imitating you may be cute, you should ensure that your dog is performing safe activities.

As long as the imitation is safe, you can allow your dog to try to act like a “mini you” and you can use the behavior to your advantage when teaching new tricks to your canine.

• See Also: Why Do Cats Imitate Their Owners and Other Cats? The Science Behind It

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Featured Image Credit: Banedeki, Shutterstock