Books Your Dog Is Your Mirror: The Emotional Capacity of Our Dogs and Ourselves  by Kevin Behan (Author)

"Your Dog Is Your Mirror: The Emotional Capacity of Our Dogs and Ourselves" by Kevin Behan presents a groundbreaking theory that a dog's behavior, personality, and emotional life are deeply influenced by the emotional state and energy of their human companions. Behan, a veteran dog trainer, argues that dogs do not have an independent, self-contained consciousness but rather share a networked emotional intelligence with their owners. A dog's emotional capacity is highly developed, allowing it to finely tune and reflect the feelings of the humans they bond with.

The book explains that emotional capacity is key to understanding canine behavior: it shapes the dog's ability to respond with subtlety and persistence, and dogs with high emotional capacity can "go by feel" rather than relying on learned habits or cognition alone. Behan's theory suggests that many dog behaviors previously attributed to intelligence or temperament are actually manifestations of emotional feedback loops between dog and owner.