When we gaze into our dog’s eyes, oxytocin is produced in our hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary. The process is echoed in our dog. Oxytocin is a hormone a.k.a. love, cuddle, or feel-good hormone. The hypothalamus is a gland in our brain that controls our hormone system.
Dogs raised in a human environment like to make eye contact with humans. Even as young as four weeks old, puppies compete with their siblings to gain their owner’s or breeder’s gaze.
Japanese researchers found that humans and dogs co-evolved to become close over the millennia via the mutual eye contact and the higher levels of oxytocin that the act builds. Trust and emotional connection are fostered.
Obviously, the more we hug, cuddle, caress our dog and gaze into his eyes, the more he will love us.
Boundless love
The dog’s love for humans, particularly his loving owner, is boundless.
A dog who had accidentally got separated from his owner in Wolcott, Indiana trekked around 2,500 miles/4,000 kilometres to get home in Silverton, Oregon. By the time he hobbled to the front door six months later, in the dead of winter, he was filthy, shabby and skinny, his claws worn out.
There have been other instances of lost dogs finding their way back home. Scientists have not yet been able to determine how the dog can do that. Let’s bear in mind, though, that not all lost dogs have found their way back home.
And, no, dogs love their owners not because the latter feed them.
An experiment was conducted with two sets of puppies. One set was fed by humans involved in the study. The other set was fed by a robot. Even after a long period, not one in the second set formed any bond with the robot.
The good news is that the love is reciprocated by many humans.
In the States again, a man out hiking stumbled on an injured dog. Unable to carry the dog away on his own due to the latter’s condition and the difficult terrain, he made the latter as comfortable as possible, left his water with him, and walked away to find cell coverage.
On finding cell coverage, the man promptly got onto the social media. In next to no time, a group of people in proximity, all strangers to each other, mounted a rescue operation.
In another case, a lady left her job to look for their lost dog during the day time. Her husband bought night-vision goggles and went looking for him at night. This was besides distributing flyers and posting notices. Happily, they were eventually reunited.
Saving humans
The dog is the only species besides the dolphin known to have come to the aid of humans (their owners as well as strangers) in distress and in life-or-death situations. There have been several reports of this published in the West.
To quote one example, at the time of writing, an elderly Englishman living in the country was saved by his two dogs. The dogs are not trained ones. After the gentleman collapsed to the floor and fell unconscious, one of his dogs stayed at his side while the other went out to summon help. A lady responded, resulting in the gentleman being taken to hospital soon enough.
Also in England some ten years ago, a Rottweiler called Jake out walking with his owner sped off when there came screams from the distance. It turned out a young lady had been dragged into the bushes and was about to be raped by an immigrant with a police record. After Jake had sent the would-be rapist fleeing in fright, he circled the young lady to protect her until the police came. The young lady was a perfect stranger to both Jake and his owner.
Costless therapy
Even the dog’s mere presence has therapeutic effects on humans – except, of course, on those who detest him. That is one of the reasons in the West the dog is taken to the hospitals to visit patients.
Simply by stroking our dog, our blood pressure decreases. He also experiences the calming effect.
