Does looking into your dog's eyes make you feel good or calm? Have you ever wondered how just one doleful look from your dog always (eventually) makes you forgive that chewed-up shoe - or almost anything else? Scientists may have discovered the reason.
According to Japanese researchers, a dog's gaze triggers release of the so-called "trust hormone," oxytocin in their owners.
Oxytocin, the hormone produced by the pituitary gland at the base of the brain, is best known for its role in inducing labor and has been implicated in bonding behaviors (i.e. hugging and touching) in animals including humans. In studies, the hormone oxytocin was shown to be associated with the ability for humans to maintain healthy interpersonal relationships and healthy psychological boundaries with other people. Experiments have even found that sniffing oxytocin increases a person's trustfulness of others.
In a study, Mino Nagasawa of Azabu University in Japan and colleagues placed dog owners together with their pets in a series of half-hour sessions. The experimenters then measured the levels of oxytocin in owners' urine before and after the interactions.
The investigators found increases in the hormone level that were highly correlated to "the frequency of behavioral exchanges initiated by the dog's gaze," they reported in the research journal, "Hormones and Behavior."
To be sure the researchers arranged another set of experiments that were similar, except that the dog owners were instructed not to look at their pooch during the interactions. In these tests, the scientists reported that the oxytocin-gaze correlation was absent.
"In the past, it hasn't been clear whether oxytocin is linked to bonding between different species," wrote Nagasawa and colleagues. "We conclude that interactions with dogs, especially those initiated by the dog's gaze, can increase the urinary [oxytocin] concentrations of their owners as a manifestation of attachment behavior."
In other words, chemically, we bond or connect with our dogs in the same way we do with humans. So the next time you find yourself feeling or becoming emotional about your pet and someone says, "It's just a dog," just remember that science supports your emotional attachment to Fido.
Courtesy PawPrints Magazine
