Do dogs feel less pain proportionally than humans? They seem to have more resiliance to pain than we do.?

Question

I have owned dogs for four decades and have noticed a significant difference in the way they respond to the same proportion of ...experience, pain-wise...than a human would. do they have fewer nerve endings per square inch? do they have less sensitive nerves? is it the fur barrier? very very curious about this. Thanks to whomever can answer...I LOVE MY DOG!!!

Answer 1

I think that dogs register pain differently than we do. Even if the sensation is the same, the way they think about it is different.

People differ from each other that way as well. Two people with the same amount of actual pain (like a pin prick) can think about it very differently and, therefore, display very different reactions. One person will get hysterical over it while others will just shrug their shoulders and ignore it.

I have noticed what you have seen as well. A dog can barrel into a solid object (like another dog) and keep moving as if nothing happened. I wonder if the dog just shrugs his shoulders and keeps on playing while a person is wondering if he broke something, if his insurance will cover it, if he needs to take an aspirin for it, etc. and will stop to nurse the pain. He thinks that because he took a pretty big hit, he should be hobbling around and maybe crying a bit and so he does.

If dogs aren't sensitive enough to feel pain as we do, they would be a danger to themselves and could not get on in the world. They would be like those people who cannot feel pain at all and so burn themselves on the stove or break fingers in doorways.

I think they must sense the pain as we do but think differently about it and, therefore, act differently.

Answer 2

I've often wondered the same thing. Part, I think, is the wild instinct to never show your weakness. But I also wonder if they just don't know how much it's supposed to hurt kinda like newborns. I know when I had knee surgery, I wasn't walking on it the next day like my dog did without the aid of pain killers. They also seem to heal faster so that may play a part in it as well.

Answer 3

in nature any animal who shows pain or weakness becomes prey. It's jsut the way nature works, so animals tend to really really hide pain. Some people can hide and tolerate pain better than others...but i think dogs are better at hiding it than most people can ever be. When we SEE it...you can bet it's bad.

Answer 4

Showing pain or injury in the animal world makes you a target for predators, or maybe even being driven out from your pack or herd. Animals will try to hide any injury or illness if they can for reasons of self preservation.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

You anticipate that on the instant human beings can not actually journey the soreness or exhilaration of yet another. yet that isn't actual. we are totally able to empathizing with no longer basically our fellow guy, yet in addition the different residing element we share this planet with. It provides me actual soreness to be certain the suffering of others.. it actually makes me ill. whilst somebody i understand and love is in soreness, I additionally sense that soreness. whilst somebody i like is blissful, I additionally share that exhilaration. maximum all and sundry is in basic terms too egocentric and blind to others to coach this type of empathy. Our worldwide would properly be a distinctive place if basically anybody would get right of entry to this fringe of themselves.

Answer 7

Dogs feel pain just as much as humans do, however their instincts are to hide it. In nature to show pain would be a sign of weakness and vulnerability and would leave them wide open for attack.

Answer 8

The fur helps. Humans are bigger babies about getting hurt I think. I know my dog has a bigger reaction to getting a thorn/sticker in her paw than when I get one in my bare foot.