Do People Look Like Their Dogs?

We have all passed by someone walking their dog and thought “WOW! They really look like their dog!”. But what if you are that person that looks like your dog?

In our line of work, Ron and I have met countless dog-and-owner pairs who look uncannily alike, and it has always made us giggle —this is until we saw photos of us posed with Moses and Lewie and realized we look like our dogs too! We are officially those people!

It got me thinking: is there any actual science behind this? Do we pick our dogs based on our looks, or do we just start melding into them (or them into us) over the years?

I am happy to report that it’s not just my imagination…or yours! There have been studies showing that people often unconsciously choose dogs who look like them, especially when selecting purebreds with predictable traits.

In one well-known, and very interesting, experiment by psychologists Michael Roy and Nicholas Christenfeld, strangers matched pictures of dog owners with their pets at a rate significantly better than chance, hinting that features like the eyes may be the secret giveaway. And oddly enough, when Ron and I look at pictures of ourselves with our dogs, that is the feature we both most align with.

Research suggests this surprising phenomenon stems from our preference for the familiar, which includes our own faces, and the tendency to pick a dog that seems to match us both in looks and temperament.

In answering my own question: it seems we really do pick our dogs based on our looks—whether we find their rescue pictures online (like Moses), meet them at a shelter, or go through a breeder (like Lewie). There’s clearly more to it than simply “choosing” a dog. Maybe that explains why so many of us look like our pets: they reflect something deeply familiar to our hearts and minds—a genuine connection. And if anyone ever tells you that you look like your dog (or cat), don’t be annoyed—take it as a compliment to your good taste!