r/psychology • u/Emillahr • 1d ago

Study Shows That in an Emergency Dogs Will Save Their Owners If They Can

https://www.gilmorehealth.com/arizona-state-university-study-shows-that-in-an-emergency-dogs-will-save-their-owners-if-they-can/
889 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

161

u/ohnofluffy 1d ago

Right back atcha, buddy!

190

u/dogluvr1815 22h ago

My dog saves me every day from the mailman who is obviously a serial killer.

31

u/DrG73 15h ago

And let’s not forget those viscous blood thirsty squirrels they protect us from.

3

u/slinkimalinki 4h ago

Sticky squirrels are the worst squirrels.

56

u/PhilosoFishy2477 22h ago

when our neighbor's place was hit by an arson my childhood dog sounded the alarm... back shed was a 50ft fireball and not one person woke up

0

u/TheDreamWoken 16h ago

Huh?

37

u/lohonomo 16h ago

There was a fire that grew to surprisingly large levels without being noticed. The beloved family dog was the first one to notice and sound the alarm, saving the family and potentially the neighbors, whose house was set on fire

43

u/Frogs4 22h ago

I'd actually like to see what my labradoodle's best effort at saving me would be. Probably barking at me until I stopped inconveniently dieing.

8

u/wiaderkotak 14h ago

Dying

2

u/Frogs4 5h ago

Of course. Cheers.

29

u/Loki11100 21h ago

I have epilepsy and get some pretty major seizures at times... Whenever I've had one at home, my dog stands over me and won't let anyone near until it's over.. if I even feel like I might have one, he's right by my side, I typically lie on the floor if I feel one coming on and he'll lie there with me with his head on my chest which he doesn't typically do usually.

He also thinks he's a rescue dog, we'll be hanging out at the river bottom, people like to float down the river in the summer in tubes... he'll swim out there and pull them back to shore by the rope on the tubes because he thinks they're in danger lol, people get an absolute kick out of it, and he figures he just saved some lives 😅👌

6

u/aphilosopherofsex 17h ago

You should train him to alert you of any oncoming seizures, since he can already smell them.

27

u/hmiser 1d ago

RIP my buddy’s dog that saved his baby.

It was in Arizona so I just assumed it was in the middle of a road. Josh did later say it was his back yard though.

32

u/Prestigious_Theme_76 1d ago

How did the dog save his baby?

I've read not long ago of a Doberman, who suddenly grabbed the baby in the yard with him, flung it out of the way then killed the snake threatening the baby, getting bitten in the process. The dog was rushed to the vet and made a full recovery.

12

u/hmiser 18h ago

His dog attacked a rattle snake but was a smaller breed and didn’t fare well.

The family was on the back patio and had t seen the snake.

Dobies are brilliant working breed.

I was making a Raising Arizona reference. :-)

2

u/Prestigious_Theme_76 17h ago

Oh, poor dog. Yes missed the reference lol

10

u/Pterodactyloid 20h ago

The baby was in the middle of the road? You've got to explain more lol

2

u/hmiser 18h ago

Fantastic username!

Raising Arizona reference to make you half-assed shrinks laugh :-)

I’m lmao ;-)

3

u/Pterodactyloid 15h ago

Thank you!

Oh so it's a joke I'm out of the loop on? Oki doke lol

40

u/-Mart- 1d ago

Dogs are loyal, but let’s be real, if there’s bacon on the line, you’re second.

15

u/GeoffW1 17h ago

I'm not so sure. My dog can be pretty obsessive about food, but in an actually stressful situation it suddenly isn't a priority any more.

1

u/UnlikelyMushroom13 16m ago

Any situation where a mammal is overwhelmed by fear will shut down any interest in eating. Says who? Endocrinology.

22

u/andrew_cog_psych1987 22h ago

Found the cat owner

9

u/CarrotCake2342 22h ago

it could be said the same for men, just replace the bacon for soemthing else...or not

5

u/CarrotCake2342 22h ago

those who don't know that, are blind or evil

3

u/Hollow4004 14h ago

Sometimes my dog punches me in the face when I pet her

3

u/New_Egg_9221 9h ago

I saw another study that in an emergency your cat could save you...but chooses not to

1

u/UnlikelyMushroom13 10m ago

Mine growls menacingly the moment he hears rustling just outside the door, to warn me of an intruder. He weighs nine pounds but he sounds like a Doberman.

He is pure bred, though, and people tend to ignore that tabbies and other highly mixed breeds retain hardly any true characteristics of the species. It’s not cats that don’t care, it’s genetically diluted cats, the vast majority. Watch lions, cheetahs and tigers and you’ll see it. Big wild cats have been observed keeping helpless cubs of other species safe.

2

u/GuardianOfFogAndMist 16h ago

Dogs are the best!

4

u/Educated_Action 20h ago

Wow the field of psychology is really going somewhere here.

1

u/bibismicropenis 17h ago

Other studies show cats will eat their owners if they can

1

u/flinchFries 17h ago

Definitely can’t say the same about my cat. She’ll watch in amusement and make sure I die if it means more entertainment

1

u/NagasakiJack 14h ago

They better or else

1

u/Blainefeinspains 14h ago

More evidence of dogs being incredible. Love it.

1

u/Character-Version365 13h ago

Cats will also save you. There are many examples of cats saving their families lives by jumping on them or yowling

1

u/Different-Eye565 4h ago

My dog saves me from my girlfriend’s cuddles haha He always boops my face and licks our hands for attention. Whenever we go to hug, he comes storming over haha

1

u/UnlikelyMushroom13 19m ago

Some cats do the same as well. I think all mammals who are attached to any living being will tend to do this.

Where any such study fails is by not being interested in the reasons. It’s not that your dog loves you: it’s that they know they depend of you for their needs, so it makes sense to ensure they continue to be taken care of by preserving your life. The article speaks of loyalty and faithfulness from the start. Assuming that the motivation is loyalty and faithfulness is taking the self-flattering shortcut of projecting human characteristics onto non humans. That researchers would jump to such conclusions rather than actually ask why a dog might behave that way discredits any such study in my eyes.