The Love Between Us 🐶

Hello and welcome back,

As we move through the month of February - focussed on love and relationships - it’s only right that we delve into one of the strongest relationships we have… that of the bond with our dogs.

As you may have heard me say on last week’s podcast episode, dogs are one of the most successful mammals on the planet. And a great deal of this is down to the pro-social relationship they have with humans. Be it that they are living with them or alongside them in the case of village dogs, we’re fairly responsible for how the world-wide canine community thrives.

But why are dogs so important to us? Of course, there are roles they play in our working lives but ‘jobs’ aside, so many of us share a special pet/guardian relationship with our dogs and continue to have the desire to welcome more canines into our homes.

One element that plays a big part in our bond with dogs is hormones. When we look into the eyes of our dogs, we get a boost of the wonderful ‘love’ or ‘hug’ hormone Oxytocin. It’s been shown through studies to be comparable to the feeling a parent feels when looking into a human newborn’s eyes. Oxytocin is pretty powerful stuff - it’s our own natural anti-depressant, helping to reduce stress and make us feel happier at the same time.

Dogs also provide companionship unlike any other species you may share your life with. We get feedback from them. We enjoy success with them through learning new skills. We have fun together through play. We gain physical affection from many of our dogs. They even provide comedic moments. And, of course, we get that unspoken loyalty and love that many of our other relationships fail to provide.

Back to the subject of hormones, our dogs also get the pleasure of an Oxytocin boost through our connections together. However, as a species they need something a little more to continue to see the value in living with, or alongside, humans. The Dopamine system plays a part in reward, reinforcement, and, importantly, motivation. Dopamine can be created through providing ‘success moments’ in whatever form is valuable for your individual dog. For example, rewards via: food, touch, play, access to water, verbal praise, access to other dogs…. the list goes on. Paired together, the Dopamine and Oxytocin systems enable dogs to have that pro-social desire to connect with humans that many other mammals don’t have. So it’s important to note that by providing rewards for exercises our dogs perform, or by allowing outlets for natural canine behaviours, you’ll end up with the strongest bond with your dog.

Until next time, enjoy that special bond,

Caroline