Can dogs and other animals really be friends? For many people who share their lives with dogs, the answer might seem obvious. Anyone who has seen a dog light up at the sight of a familiar companion, or watched a cat and dog play rough and tumble or groom each other, already knows what science is increasingly confirming: dogs can form real, lasting friendships with other animals.
‘Ample research combined with common sense clearly shows that humans aren’t the only species capable and even desirous of making and keeping friends,’ says Dr Marc Bekoff, renowned American biologist, ethologist, and Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Friendship among dogs is about far more than simply occupying the same space, Bekoff says. Dogs seek out preferred friends and return to the same companions for comfort, play or rest. Of course, the bond between dogs and their people is perhaps the most familiar interspecies friendship of all.
‘Animals use pee-mail – different odours or combinations thereof – and other subtle signals that are beyond our own capacity to see, hear, or smell,’ says Bekoff
Smell shapes a dog’s social world, allowing them to recognise individuals, interpret emotional states and maintain social bonds over time.
Incredibly, Dr Alexandra Horowitz from the Dog Cognition Lab at the Department of Psychology at Barnard College in New York City, has found that dogs can use scent to determine the passage of time, and that they can also smell and identify other dogs’ emotions.
‘Odd couple’ friendships
Bekoff says that while friendships between members of different species are often called ‘odd couple’ relationships, they can be deep and meaningful.
There are plenty of examples of dogs befriending other animals, or rescuing injured wildlife with care and compassion. In Victoria, pointer mix dog named Rex found an orphaned kangaroo joey in its deceased mother’s pouch while walking with its owner. Rex brought the baby back to his owner, and the dog and the roo became close friends.
Perhaps the most famous interspecies friendship featuring dogs is that of Molly the magpie and his staffy friends, Peggy and Ruby. The Instagram-famous trio lives on the Gold Coast with owners Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen, the pair who found the young bird on the ground at a local dog park. The animal friends have amassed a large fan base, with followers amazed by how the three get along, and how gentle the dogs are with their avian sibling.
