Differences in stress and happiness between owners who perceive their dogs as well behaved or poorly behaved when they are left alone
This study was performed to identify differences between a group of 36 dog owners who reported separation-related behavioral problems in their dogs and a group of 40 dog owners who perceived their dogs as well behaved in their absence. The variables compared between these groups were attachment, trainability, human-dog relationship, owner-dog compatibility, happiness, and stress. […]
The physiological function of oxytocin in humans and its acute response to human-dog interactions: A review of the literature
Oxytocin is increasingly recognized to have a role in human-dog bonding and interactions and a positive influence on various health outcomes including cardiovascular function and stress reactivity. This review summarizes current research investigating human-dog interactions and endogenous oxytocin to highlight the potentially beneficial role of oxytocin within human-dog relationships and overall human health. We discuss […]
Effects of human–dog familiarity on dogs’ behavioural responses to petting
The complex, subtle body postures and facial expressions used by dogs for communication is sometimes contrary to the human–dog communication mainly focused on verbal and tactile signals. Human–dog interactions might lead to misunderstandings because humans perform gestures that the pet interprets as social behaviours that are inappropriately performed by the human. Therefore, the behavioural responses […]
Dogs’ endocrine and behavioural responses at reunion are affected by how the human initiates contact
For dogs, humans are likely to be the most important feature in their environment influencing their welfare. To investigate a commonly occurring human–dog interaction, behavioural and endocrine responses of 12 female beagle dogs were measured before, upon and after the return of a familiar person. Each dog was left by the person in a test […]
Emotions in dogs being petted by a familiar or unfamiliar person: Validating behavioural indicators of emotional states using heart rate variability
Although physical human–dog interactions have an important influence on the human–dog relationship, few studies have proposed the key factors of physical human–dog contact affecting the well-being of dogs. Therefore, our aim was to investigate the effect of physical human–dog contact on the behaviour and cardiac activity of dogs. Thereby, we focused on the human–dog familiarity […]