New Research Shows Dogs Are Affected by Human Stress, Even from Strangers
Dogs have a remarkable ability to sense human emotions, and a recent study has shed light on how this ability extends to detecting stress in people—even those they have never met. The study, conducted by Zoe Parr-Cortes from Bristol Veterinary School in England, reveals that the emotional state of dogs can be negatively impacted by the smell of human stress.
Dogs Can Smell Stress—and It Affects Them
It has been well-established that dogs can pick up on human stress through their keen sense of smell. However, this new research shows how a dog’s emotional state is influenced when they detect stress in a human, even a complete stranger. According to Parr-Cortes, who led the study, the aim was to understand how the smell of stress affected the dogs’ optimism or pessimism.
How Stress Odors Impact Dogs’ Behavior
The study involved 18 dogs who were trained to associate one side of a testing area with food and the other side with no food. After the dogs learned this, Parr-Cortes introduced a third location between the two known spots. The dogs’ reaction to this unknown location was used to measure their emotional state. If they approached the new spot quickly, it indicated optimism; if they were slow, it showed pessimism.
Initially, the dogs were tested without any added odors to establish a baseline of their behavior. Then, the researchers introduced stress odors collected from human volunteers who had undergone stressful situations, like a timed math test or public speaking. Relaxed odors were also collected after volunteers engaged in calming activities, such as listening to soothing music.
Stress Smells Make Dogs More Pessimistic
The findings were significant. When exposed to the stress odor, the dogs were slower to approach the bowl in the new location, showing a more pessimistic outlook. In contrast, the relaxed odors did not produce the same effect. This behavior suggests that the dogs were negatively affected by the stress scent, even though it came from strangers.
“This wasn’t the smell of someone they knew that was stressed. It was someone they had never met before,” Parr-Cortes explained. This finding indicates that dogs can detect stress in humans generally, not just from their owners or familiar people.
Expert Opinions and Future Research
Canine experts are impressed by the study, although they acknowledge that more research is needed. Clive Wynne, director of the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University, praised the study’s originality but noted that the science of understanding dog emotions is still in its early stages. He emphasized the importance of further research, given how closely humans and dogs live together.
Emily Bray, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona, also found the study valuable. She believes that understanding how dogs perceive human emotions is crucial for improving communication between the two species. Bray suggested that future research could explore how other cues, like body language and tone of voice, affect dogs.
Be Mindful of Your Emotions Around Dogs
This study highlights the importance of being aware of your emotional state when interacting with dogs. If you’re feeling stressed, it’s likely that your dog will pick up on it and may become stressed as well. Parr-Cortes recommends doing something relaxing before engaging with your dog, especially during training sessions, to minimize any negative impact on their emotional state.
Future research by Parr-Cortes may explore how other human emotions, such as happiness, influence dog behavior. She suspects that dogs are just as attuned to positive emotions as they are to stress, further emphasizing the deep connection between humans and their canine companions.
Dogs are incredibly in tune with human emotions, including stress. This study shows that even the scent of stress from a stranger can make dogs more pessimistic. As we continue to learn more about how dogs perceive our emotions, we can better understand how to interact with them in a way that supports their emotional well-being.
References:
- Parr-Cortes, Z. et al. (2023). Study on Canine Response to Human Stress Odors. Bristol Veterinary School, England.
- Wynne, C. (2023). Insights on Canine Emotional Reactions. Arizona State University.
- Bray, E. (2023). Human-Animal Interaction Research. University of Arizona.
