Culture and Society
PUBLISHED
Every dog lover knows the bond between humans and their canine counterparts run deep. According to a recent study, that connection could be so close that even the hearts of dogs and their owners can become in sync with one another.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.The experiment, jointly from Monash University in Australia and Pedigree Petfoods, took three pairs of dogs and their owners and hooked them all up to heart rate monitors. They separated the dogs from their owners and recorded the change in heartbeats as they were reunited. Within one minute, both heartbeats were seen to drop significantly and even appeared to mirror each other.
Mia Cobb, the canine expert who led the study alongside Dr. Craig Duncan, told Huffington Post that the results showed how the dog-human relationship is mutually advantageous in lowering stress levels. It's already been proven dogs can lower our heart rate, helping to reduce stress, but this new research suggests the dogs are also benefitting physically from the relationship.
“This project is a really good illustration of what most owners experience every night when they come home from work and are reunited with their companion,” Cobb said.
“This kind of effect of experiencing a lowered heart rate makes a significant difference to our overall well-being. If we can decrease our heart rate by hanging out with our animals, that’s something that can really benefit the community.”
So there you have it; even more evidence that dogs are awesome. Just don’t hug them too much, apparently it freaks them out.
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