Dogs can catch their owners’ stress, risking their health

Queen’s University Belfast researchers found that dogs can experience the stress of their owners, which could put their health at risk.

Their study suggests that these canine buddies feel relief and distress whenever their human companions experience the same.

As a result, they recommended that pet clinics consider calming owners during their visits to relieve their furry patients.

How did they link dogs’ health and owners’ stress?

Aoife Byrne and Gareth Arnott had 28 owners and their dogs participate in their experiment. 

The owners and their barking buddies wore heart-rate monitors to monitor and record their stress levels. 

Then, they exposed the owners to either a stress-inducing or stress-relieving exercise to see its effects on them and their pets.

READ: Signs of stress in dogs

The stressful intervention involved a digital stress test, which required owners to perform a mental arithmetic task and a verbal presentation task.

On the other hand, the relaxing session involved viewing a five-minute guided breathing meditation video.

The researchers found that a dog’s heart rate rose if its owner’s heart rate increased, suggesting “emotional contagion.” 

This is a phenomenon where people and animals may “catch” the emotions and behavior of those around them. 

READ: High Anxiety: How to handle the cost of a stressed-out dog

Consequently, dogs may recognize their owners’ stress, which influences their own stress levels. 

It may also indicate that dogs rely on their owners to inform their response to new environments.

The experiment kept the owners from interacting with their pets, meaning no direct communication caused their stress reactions. 

As a result, the researchers found that dogs are perceptive animals that are influenced by their surroundings.

In response, the average dog owner should check their stress when visiting veterinary clinics. 

If they feel at ease, their dogs could become more relaxed, helping vets diagnose and treat pets. 

Moreover, veterinarians may try providing owners with a positive vibe to facilitate patient visits. 

Arnott and Byrne published their study in ScienceDirect with the title: “Empathy or Apathy? Investigating the influence of owner stress on canine stress in a novel environment.”