Science Reveals Why Dogs Are So Happy to See Us

All dog owners feel the same when they open the door to see their dog greeting them with a wagging tail. What’s behind that, anyway?

The science says it is not just love.

It’s a whole lot deeper in biology and emotion. Modern research has identified that oxytocin-the so-called “hormone of love” plays a key role in this scenario.

This hormone is said to be responsible for creating feelings of connectedness, trust, and empathy between humans and dogs during positive experiences.

Remarkably developed social skills-an ability that allows dogs, descendants of wolves, to read human emotions, gestures, and facial expressions.

New methodologies in current research demonstrate that dogs and humans share more or less similar types of reactions to positive stimulation. This special relationship, which existed between these beings for thousands of years, enables domesticated dogs to adopt a lifestyle of living with human beings and provides loyalty, emotional support, and companionship.

This means that every time you spend time with a dog, pet it, play with it, or look at it, both you and your dog are producing oxytocin. This creates a feedback loop of love, which further strengthens your relationship with your dog.

At the same time, there has been research that shows varying levels of oxytocin. A 2019 study published in the journal “Animals” stated that having a long exposure to a dog does not equate to oxytocin levels, as the interaction itself played a big part.

By what means did dogs and humans get to be inseparable?

The relationship between people and dogs is perhaps one of the most remarkable examples of co-evolution. Dogs have evolved over the centuries from wolves into incredibly connected animals with an astonishing ability to interpret our feelings and behaviors.

Unlike their ancestor, the wolf, dogs have acquired a highly developed sensitivity to human emotions so that they can well detect the mood of humans, whether happy or stressed.

From the process of domestication, dogs have acquired traits like social intelligence and loyalty which have made them imbibe and integrate even further into the human world.