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OPINION: Do our dogs actually love us? Really?

DOGS have long been described as ‘man’s best friend’ – and countless households across the globe count their canine companion as one of the family.

Many of us will have experienced the intense grief of losing a dog, or the joy of a warm welcome from our precious pet after a trip.

The perception of dogs as a warm and loving pet sits in stark contrast to the reputation of their cat counterparts for example, who are seen as more selfish, relying on us only as a source of food and somewhere to sleep.

But do our dogs actually love us in any recognisable way? Do they know we love them?

It was a question a reader recently asked me to investigate, so I started having a look around and, thankfully, lots of clever people have tried to answer the same question…

In 2017, a group of Swedish doctors and researchers carried out a series of experiments to see if they could show a chemical reaction in dogs and their owners that could indicate signs of love, or if you like, friendship.

They noted how previous studies had shown “behavioural and neuroendocrine similarities to that described for mothers and infants” – a strong claim, as clearly, the bond between mothers and infants is pretty strong, to say the least.

To investigate further how this works, they took 10 “female middle-aged” owners of male Labrador retrievers older than a year, who had lived together for the dogs’ whole lives.

They carried out experiments during which the owners talked to their dogs and petted them in various ways, for three minutes, “the way they do at home”.

After three minutes, the owners were told to cease interacting with the animal and sit down.

Throughout this – and in the build-up and afterwards – the scientists took blood samples from the dogs and their owners.

Why would they do this?

Well, have you ever heard of something called ‘the love drug’, or the ‘love hormone’ (and no, it is not illegal)?

When people talk about this, they are referring to oxytocin, which is produced in the hypothalamus and released into the blood by the pituitary gland.

You may have heard of endorphins or serotonin – which promote happiness and positive feelings. Well, oxytocins have a similar positive effect. It has been shown to decrease stress and anxiety levels, and is also produced when we are excited by our sexual partner (hence ‘the love hormone’).

So, all in all, our bodies produce oxytocin when we are excited, when we are happy, in love, helping us feel less stressed and anxious – which can only be a good thing.

I’m sure we could all do with a bit more oxytocin in our lives.

Anyway, back to our Scandanavian scientists…

As mentioned above, the academics monitored the blood of the dogs and owners as they interacted – and they specifically measured oxytocin levels.

What they found was very interesting.

Their study said: “The interaction induced oxytocin release in the owners, who displayed behaviours that are associated with anti-stress effects.

“The dogs seemed to sense this and responded in a similar way.

“The calmer behaviours displayed by the dog then enhanced the calming effect in the owners.”

And this was a two-way effect – with the process seemingly perpetuating between dog and owner, they said.

“It appears as if the owners and the dogs could mutually sense the other’s emotional state based on an increased ability to read the other’s behavioural cues,” the study went on.

“As previously described, oxytocin can facilitate and stimulate friendly social interactions, induce anti-stress and anxiolytic effects and increase trust.”

It would appear, in this small study at least, that dogs and their owners get a healthy boost of oxytocin when they interact.

That, my friends, is a loving relationship.

Another study, published in the Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience journal in 2016, also produced some interesting evidence.

Researchers tested the effects of praise versus food in the brains of 15 dogs.

Effectively, they monitored the animals’ brains when they were offered praise compared to when they were offered food, in a sense seeing if the dogs reacted differently to ‘reward’ (some food), or ‘love’ (the praise).

In short, some dogs preferred praise, some the food. However, more preferred the praise.

“For most dogs, social reinforcement is at least as effective as food – and probably healthier too,” it concluded.

So dogs like getting praise.

Could this be because they love us and enjoy getting praise from us? It could well be.

So, as you might imagine, it is very, very difficult to say with any certainty that our dogs ‘love’ us.

However, we can say that a dog-owner relationship can bring a lot of oxytocin into the lives of both parties.

We can also say that the more you love your dog, the more they love you – and that can only be a good thing.

PAUL JONES
Editor in Chief

I’m sure I will regret saying this, but if you have anything you would like us to have a look in to, then paul@blackmorevale.net and we will do what we can.

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I am the editor in chief of Blackmore Vale media, which includes the New Blackmore Vale, New Stour & Avon, Salisbury & Avon Gazette and the Purbeck Gazette, having been a reporter for some 20 years. In my spare time, I am a festival lover, with a particular focus on Glastonbury. I live in Somerset with my wife and two children.