Interestingly when Milo was a baby I often saw him staring at himself in the mirror. Talk about being self-obsessed, huh! It began happening very often and I kind of started to worry whether this is even normal behavior for a dog. I also noticed that he not only got startled at the sight of his reflection, but also when he saw my reflection. His reaction was followed by loud barks which asserted, “My mama is right here, so who is this creepy person in the mirror?” His reaction always made me laugh.
After talking to my vet, I found out it is completely normal for dogs to stare at themselves or other reflections in the mirror. There are two hypotheses to this conundrum. Firstly, he may not exactly be seeing himself in the mirror. Secondly, he might be looking at a fellow companion and gets excited. I don’t know which one of them is true for Milo, but I was relieved to know that Milo is not the only dog who stares at himself in the mirror.
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Dogs Lack Self-Recognition
Dogs usually lack self-recognition and consciousness.
In comparison to older dogs, puppies who see themselves in the mirror don’t recognize their reflection as an image of themselves but as an image of a friend. If you’re a mom, you might have noticed that whenever you bring your baby who is under the age of two in front of the mirror he gets very excited when they see their reflection also.
Babies cannot recognize themselves until they are at least 18 to 24 months old. The same is the case with puppies.
If you have a puppy you might have noticed that he occasionally barks whenever he crosses the mirror and catches a glimpse of his reflection. This is because they find it amusing and think they are playing with another dog.
This reaction might seem to be a bit out of place if you’ve never had a fur-baby before, but it’s truly nothing to worry about.
Most dogs don’t recognize their reflection as their own but as a reflection of another dog.
Older dogs and puppies alike get excited at the thought of seeing a playmate, just like they would at the dog park. When this new friend shows no response back, it often leads to an aggressive reaction on the dog’s part – most likely trying to invoke a response from this “other dog.”
If you have an older dog you might have noticed that he pays little to no attention to his reflection whatsoever and just walks past the mirror without making any eye contact.
By this point, they have probably already learned that the reflection in the mirror will not respond to them – so by default, they ignore it.
Some of the signs that you might notice when your dog is looking at the reflection in the mirror include staring, barking, averting their eyes, exposing their teeth, playing with their reflection, tilting their heads, and running back and forth in front of the mirror.
Dogs Ignore the Mirror
Not all dogs stare at themselves in the mirror. Most dogs tend to ignore mirrors altogether. This is due to habituation.
As mentioned above, when animals do not get a response from another animal or object they lose interest and ignore them so that they can focus their energy on other important things – like where they left their last chew toy, presumably.
Hence when they notice that the pooch in the mirror is not reacting the way a normal, real living dog would, they feel uninterested in the mirror.
Also, dogs have a strong sense of smell and since reflections don’t have a smell at all, this also causes them to lose interest in the reflection.
You might have noticed your pup usually sniffs for areas where he might have pooped before. At first, when I saw Milo do that I was grossed out, but then I realized he was just marking his territory and getting a better sense of his surroundings.
This is perfectly normal behavior which is a good sign as it shows that our babies are aware of their surroundings and other dogs.
An interesting research study called the “The Yellow Snow Study” was conducted by renowned biologist Marc Bekoff.
In this study, he proved that dogs can distinguish between different humans and animals based on smell.
Using his dog in his research, he made his dog pee in the snow at different locations.
The concept was to determine whether his dog could recognize the areas where he peed at. The pooch successfully identified all the localities by using his sense of smell.
Hence, his research proved that dogs can identify their own smells and distinguish other dogs by smell also.
Fun Mirror Reflection Test for Dogs
Well, we’ve established that dogs either can’t decipher whether they are looking at their reflection or a reflection of another dog.
It could also be that they are aware it is their reflection but they just don’t care and ignore it.
A fun way to see if your pooch recognizes his reflection is by conducting a mirror test.
According to the American Kennel Club, this test was developed by Gordon Gallup Jr in 1970 to test if dogs have any sort of self-recognition.
First, paint a dot on your dog’s forehead – preferably with some sort of washable medium – common sense here, people!
Then, place him in front of the mirror.
If he recognizes his reflection he would touch the paint with his paw or try to rub it off by rubbing his head on the floor.
If he shows no reaction that shows that your pup does not recognize himself, even if he doesn’t think it’s another dog.
Barking or playing with the reflection shows your pooch probably doesn’t recognize his reflection and thinks that it is another dog in the mirror.
Either way, this fun experiment will help you learn whether your dog can recognize himself using his sense of sight.
Mirror Safety
When Milo was a puppy, he was clumsy as could be. He would walk into walls and slide down the hallway, unable to stop himself after running.
When it came to the full-length mirror in my bedroom, this was no different.
He would paw at it, bump into it, and even nudge his head against it as if it was wrestling with another dog.
If your dog has a similar reaction to mirrors, make sure to secure the mirror to the wall properly to prevent it from toppling down on top of them.
And if you do have any mirrors that are not secured to the wall, but sure to keep them out of puppy’s reach!
The last thing you’d want is to come back home to a broken mirror all over the floor – or even worse, you puppy playing with the glass!
What does my Dog see in the Mirror?
An article in National Geographic highlighted that usually when dogs look into the mirror they don’t see themselves. Instead, they might believe they’ve come across another dog who could be their friend or foe. You can determine if your dog has any self-recognition by doing the mirror test outlined above.
How would my dog react if he recognises himself in the mirror?
If your dog does recognize himself, he would likely show indications that his movements in the mirror match his own movements – such as the mirror test noted above. This is not likely to be the case however, as the majority of the research shows that dogs lack self awareness. It’s always interesting to see how your dog reacts to mirrors since this could be an indication of how he will react around new dogs. If they act aggressively this might be a red flag that if your pooch is playing with a new friend who doesn’t show interest back, he might become aggressive.
Are Dogs Self-Aware?
No, dogs are not self-aware. All the science and research point to the fact that dogs do not recognize themselves or have thoughts about themselves the way people do. Dogs staring at or playing in the mirror is more than likely a reaction to him thinking he has found a playmate. But, if your dog doesn’t like looking in the mirror then there is no need to fret about it. It is completely normal either way!
There is still a lot to learn regarding animal behavior. The research is still ongoing regarding whether dogs recognize their reflection or not, and whether or not they have self-awareness. It is uncertain to know what our four-legged companions are thinking. But, if there is one thing that science has taught us, it’s that dogs have a strong sense of smell compared to their sense of sight!
So, if your dog shows a lot of interest in his reflection or vice versa then do not worry. This by no means makes our fur babies abnormal. Even if they do see themselves they might have grown bored of the image as it differs quite a lot from reality. If they do not see it, it just means that they lack a general understanding of self-reflection. Either way, it is completely normal behavior that nearly all dogs and animals exhibit.
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