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There’s no doubt that dogs are full of personality—but what do they think about themselves? Are dogs self-aware? And if they are, how would we know?
One common measure of self-awareness is the mirror test. When a human infant takes note of their own reflection, it’s usually considered a sign of early self-awareness. Dogs also often react to mirrors—but it’s hard to say whether they understand they’re seeing themselves.
The general consensus? “I don’t think dogs are 100% fully self-aware, but I do think there’s some degree of awareness,” says Dr. Wailani Sung, a veterinary behaviorist and the director of behavior and welfare programs at San Francisco SPCA. She says self-awareness involves shades of gray.
In this article, we explore the research that’s been done to measure dogs’ self-awareness, plus get opinions from veterinarians and canine behavior experts on the evidence so far.
Testing Self-Awareness in Dogs
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to prove whether dogs are self-aware without being able to ask them directly. The good news, however, is that scientists have developed several tests to assess self-awareness in animals. Though the results haven’t been conclusive, we’ve learned a lot.
Here’s how researchers have tried to measure canine self-awareness so far.
Dogs fail visual awareness tests
Developed in the 1970s, the mirror test has been used to measure visual self-recognition in different animal species. Researchers mark an animal’s body while they’re unconscious, then put them in front of a mirror when they wake up. If the animal touches the markings, it’s considered a sign of self-recognition—they understand the reflection is an image of themselves.
Not many species pass the mirror test, and dogs are notorious failures at it. Instead of reacting to the marks on their body, dogs tend to respond to their reflection as if it were another dog. They often bark at or try to play with it. Some investigate the mirror itself before losing interest. (They’re also not great at recognizing pictures.)
Some experts find the mirror test too limiting, given most dog breeds don’t rely on vision as their primary sense. Others have suggested animals may just experience self-awareness differently than humans.
Dogs pass scent awareness tests
Dogs rely on their sense of smell to navigate the world. To more accurately reflect natural canine behavior, Alexandra Horowitz created an olfactory alternative to the mirror test. In it, dogs were presented with canisters of their own urine and urine from another dog. The test dogs spent significantly more time investigating the unfamiliar dog’s scent.
Researchers concluded from the results of Horowitz’s study that dogs are able to distinguish between their own odor a stranger’s. There’s some debate, though, about whether these results really mean dogs are self-aware. Some experts suggest dogs interpret their scent as a mark of ownership rather than an extension of their body or representation of themselves.
Dogs pass body awareness tests
Body awareness, also called proprioception, is the awareness of one’s body as separate from the environment. A 2021 study tested canine body awareness by asking dogs to sit on a floor mat, then instructing them to pick up a knotted rope and bring it to their owner.
In the control group, the rope toy was attached to the floor and unmovable. In the test group, it was attached to the underside of the mat, only weighed down by the dog’s body. Dogs in the test group were much more likely to leave the mat to complete their task, demonstrating recognition of their body as a separate object from the world around them.
A 2023 study tried a similar test to measure body awareness in dogs. Dogs were asked to obtain a treat from the other side of a transparent fence. They had the option to go around the fence or go through a doorway in the fence. Dogs often chose to go around the fence when the door was too small for them, meaning dogs have an awareness of their body’s size and borders.
wrzesientomek via iStock
Dogs pass emotional awareness tests
The studies above demonstrate dogs’ ability to distinguish themselves from others and from their environment. That’s called “situational self-awareness.” But whether dogs have an internal sense of self is harder to judge.
There’s limited research on the emotional capacity of dogs, but dogs have demonstrated empathic-like responses to both human and canine distress in several studies. Empathy requires self-awareness, so that’s a pretty good indicator that dogs feel a sense of self.
That said, empathy is a human concept. Some experts think it’s misguided to assume dogs experience and display emotion the way humans do.
Signs of Dog Self-Awareness You Might Notice
Evidence is one thing, but observation is another. As a pet parent, there are lots of ways you might notice your dog displaying signs of self-awareness. Here’s what you can look for.
Size recognition
In everyday life, you might see signs of your dog’s body awareness as they navigate the world. They might slip through a gap just wide enough for their body. Or use a chair to help them reach the table when a tasty scrap is just beyond their reach.
If you have a small or toy breed, you may notice signs of small dog syndrome. It’s a term used to describe behaviors small dogs sometimes exhibit to make themselves seem bigger (or tougher) than they really are. Male dogs have even been known to raise their legs higher when peeing on an object, leaving the impression that they’re larger than they are.
Instinctive breed behaviors
Leigh Siegfried, a certified professional dog trainer and the founder of Opportunity Barks, considers self-awareness a human construct that can’t directly be applied to dogs. She does, however, suggest that something similar to self-awareness can be observed in “dogs that are engaged in things that are close to their native, genetic wiring.”
Dogs bred for certain traits often seem to have an innate understanding of their abilities and can’t help but follow their instincts. Take herding breeds like Border Collies and Corgis, for example. They’ve been known to display herding behavior toward other pets and even their human family members.
Human interaction
The fact that your dog knows you’re not a dog—and that they aren’t a human—is a kind of evidence of self-awareness.
“Dogs interact and respond differently to people versus dogs,” explains Dr. Sung. For example, dogs generally don’t stare each other in the eye unless they’re trying to assert dominance. Your dog might understand, however, that eye contact means something else to you and be more willing to engage you in a lovingly lengthy gaze.
iStock/damircudic
Using training cues
Another example of dogs adapting to human communication styles is the dogs who learn to use talking buttons. Maybe you’ve seen videos of dogs requesting toys or treats by pressing a button. There’s a certain degree of training involved here, of course. But such behavior also demonstrates a dog’s awareness of their own needs—and how to ensure they’re met.
Name recognition
You can train a dog to do just about anything with the right motivation, but there’s a difference between trained response and recognition. For example, most dogs learn to recognize their own names—they can tell when you’re calling them versus another dog. Dr. Sung suggests that puppies are capable of recognizing their name as early as eight weeks of age.
Memories
Experts believe a dog’s memory is a web of associations rather than a recollection of specific details. Your dog might not specifically remember the day your neighbor’s kid pulled their tail, but they may be nervous around children in the future or take steps to avoid them.
It’s up for debate how much awareness dogs have of their own emotions, but feelings are a key component of self-awareness—especially when they result in behavior modification.
Is Self-Awareness a Marker of Intelligence?
So if dogs are at least somewhat self-aware, what does it say about dog intelligence?
Intelligence is hard to measure, since a dog’s brain works differently than a human’s. But some of the same metrics used to evaluate intelligence can also be applied to the assessment of self-awareness. In fact, dogs have demonstrated even stronger awareness than humans in some ways.
Consider that dogs were the first known animals to become domesticated. Dogs exhibit strong social intelligence—the ability to read body language and respond to hints we humans may not even know we’re dropping. They’re strong problem solvers too, able to leverage their individual experience, skills, and knowledge to achieve a goal.
And don’t forget that canine communication is highly specialized. It requires a strong awareness of details like posture, tail movement, and ear position. Your dog just might be more intelligent than some of the people you know!
