Have you ever tried to teach your dog a new trick, only to find yourself getting down on all fours to demonstrate it? Did you feel a little silly when you realized what you were doing?
You shouldn’t! Dogs are actually fantastic copycats.
If you need proof, look no further than the viral “Paws In” trend on social media. Someone sits on the floor and stacks their hands with other family members. Without any training—or even saying a word—the family dog trots over and adds their paw to the top of the stack.
So, why do dogs imitate humans so well?
Part of it is their desire to be included in everything you do. You already know how that works. (When was the last time you went to the bathroom by yourself?) The other part is that dogs identify so closely with their people that they naturally mimic our actions.
Great Minds Think Alike
Thousands of years of co-evolution have aligned how we interact. You know how yawns are contagious among humans? Your dog catches them from you, too!
The same goes for focus. If you stand in a crowd and stare up at the sky, the people around you will look up. So will the dogs. Professional trainers actually use this trait to get dogs interested in something they might otherwise ignore. Staring intently at a dog bed or mat is one of the easiest ways to teach a dog the “Place” command—their natural curiosity forces them to check out whatever you're looking at.
Other Dogs Are Teachers, Too
It’s not just humans dogs copycat. One reason adding a second dog can be easier than the first is that the newcomer relies on the resident dog to learn the house rules.
We haven’t had to strictly housebreak a puppy in decades. Our older dogs take care of it for us! The puppy simply follows the big guy, watches what he does, and mimics it.
Dogs can even learn complex behaviors through observation. They will sit quietly during another dog's training session and pick up the basics just by watching.
The Flip Side: Monkey See, Monkey Do
Of course, observational learning works both ways—dogs pick up bad habits just as quickly as good ones. If you have one dog who barks at every leaf blowing down the street, your other dogs will likely join the chorus unless you step in early.
It applies to outdoor fun, too. Whenever we head out to do some gardening, we have to keep the pack inside. The one thing every dog loves to copy is digging in the dirt. If they only dug where we needed holes, it would be great! Unfortunately, they never do.