If you have anxious and neurotic tendencies AND you own a dog, listen up.
Studies have emerged that suggest dogs are sensitive to human stress and are also likely to mirror that stress!
The study followed dogs and their owners over several months to see how their stress hormones changed over that period of time.
Then the owners took surveys to score their furry-friend’s traits, such as aggression, fearfulness, responsiveness to training, etc. Finally, the researchers took hair samples from both the canine and the human to test for the stress-related hormone, cortisol.
What did they find?
Welp, the dog’s cortisol levels mirrored that of their owners.
Personally, I asked myself, “What about service animals?” Their job IS literally to FEEL their owner’s emotions.
The researchers claim that dogs raised in controlled, calm environments, and are highly trained and confident are less likely to be stressed by their owner’s condition.
Sooooooo in that case, my dog should probably hang out exclusively with my husband from now on. -Taylor
