Pets we call our 'fur babies' offer us more than just companionship
Research indicates animals can trigger our brains in the
same way babies do
It's no mistake that you find that puppy on TikTok both lovable and adorable. After all, we made them that way.
For millennia, we have selected and bred dogs keen to befriend us.
Stan Coren, a professor emeritus in psychology at the University of British Columbia, says for 14,000 years, humans have been "systematically selecting dogs who are, for the most part, very sociable."
"We created what we hoped would be our best friends," he said.
"And for the most part, we have succeeded."
We've also selected the cutest — the dogs that trigger an innately maternal reaction.
Hal Herzog, professor emeritus from Western Carolina University, said research indicates animals can trigger our brains and release chemicals in the same way that babies do.
"We tend to like animals that look cute, and cute often is defined as having features of human infants — you know, large eyes and chubby faces and things like that," said Herzog, who studies the psychological, cultural and biological aspects of our relationships with pets.
Science columnist Torah Kachur explored what drives us to love our furry friends and what they contribute to our lives in a special CBC Radio broadcast.
Dogs are social creatures
According to Cree legend, dogs were a gift from the creator, says Randy Morin, a Cree language keeper from the Big River First Nation and assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan.
The creator, he says, recognized that hunters struggled to keep track of the animals they shot, and that orphaned children were often lonely without others to spend time with.
"When the people got the pups, they were able to go hunting…. they would have a playmate," said Morin.
Dogs' willingness to be companions to their humans might come down to the fact their relationship with us is mutually beneficial. Humans and canines have worked together for thousands of years, hunting and travelling together, protecting each other from threats.
"Humans and wolves perhaps found ways to, in effect, cooperate with each other to make their lives better," said Robert Losey, an anthropology professor at the University of Alberta who studies the domestication of dogs. Those wolves would eventually evolve into dogs, he added.
While the domestication of an animal like the wolf seems surprising, canines are inherently social animals, experts say. They befriend other animals beyond their species, such as sheep, and are protective of them.
That social nature could explain why dogs today are often uncomfortable with being alone.
"You hear lots of people complaining about the fact that their dogs suffer from separation anxiety," said Coren. "Well, simply being alone is not particularly pleasant for dogs."
Pets are just cute
Sociability is one factor in explaining our love for dogs and other pets, but cuteness drives our reaction to them.
Hertzog pointed to an MRI-based study that examined how human brains reacted to photos of cute animals.
"The same parts of your brain light up when you look at a cute animal as when you look at it in a baby," he said.
"It's the same parts of our brain, the emotional parts of our brain that give us a shoot of dopamine, a feel-good chemical, or oxytocin, a feel-good hormone, a bonding hormone that we [get] when we see, you know, little kids that are cute."
But beauty is, of course, in the eye of the beholder. Take pugs or the French bulldog, for example. Both breeds were bred specifically to highlight "cute" features, like big eyes and short snouts, but Hertzog says while he believes they're cute, his wife finds them repulsive.
Animals for therapy
Ultimately, dogs can provide a therapeutic element to our lives. Canines are increasingly used in therapy practices to calm and soothe people.
"First of all, you can talk to them and they never look horrified," said Coren. "They accept your hurts and your misdeeds without any sort of censure.
"Second of all, they tend to approach and solicit our attention and our affection."
That dogs are also both soft to the touch and warmer than humans helps provide comfort by triggering a relaxation response.
Coren says he was initially unconvinced by the claims that dog therapy could have positive outcomes. But following a study that examined the effect of canines on exam-stressed university students, his mind was changed.
"It turns out that when we measured them 10 hours later, they were still showing the effects of reduced negative emotions and more positivity," Coren said.
Eileen Bona, a registered psychologist and founder of Dreamcatcher Ranch in Ardrossan, Alta., chalks it up to the unconditional love an animal can offer.
"It doesn't matter if you have many diagnoses, or if you struggle with depression or anxiety, or those kinds of things; the animal doesn't know that," she said.
"As long as you're nice, the animal is going to love you, which in many cases gives people the opposite message to what they believe about themselves."
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