Interacting with your dog activates the secretion of oxytocin, the hormone of love
Mar 21, 2025
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Royal Canine Korea introduced the results of this study, which sheds light on the social and emotional role of dogs ahead of the 「World Puppy Day」 on the 23rd.
The study, published in Psychoneuroendocrinology, was led by Gitanjali E. Gnanadesikan, a researcher at the Department of Anthropology at the University of Arizona in the United States, and supported by Royal Canin's parent company, Maj's Waltham Institute.
Studies have shown that the secretion of oxytocin is activated in children who have had enjoyable interactions with dogs.
The researchers conducted the experiment on 55 children aged 8 and 10 and 54 dogs, including 35 mixed breeds and 19 pure breeds, in a total of three environments and then measuring changes in oxytocin levels. ▲The environment in which children play with their familiar dogs, ▲ the environment in which they play with unfamiliar dogs, and ▲ the environment in which children play alone, were exposed to a total of three environments, and oxytocin hormone levels were measured by dividing them into before, during, and after each of the three plays.
Measurements showed that children recorded higher oxytocin concentrations when interacting with dogs than when playing with toys or games alone. In addition, regardless of dog familiarity, it was confirmed that positive interactions with unfamiliar dogs have an increased effect of oxytocin, even if they are not necessarily their own dogs.
On the other hand, in the case of dogs, unlike children, there was a difference depending on their familiarity. Dogs who interacted with familiar children had elevated levels of oxytocin, just like children, but interactions with unfamiliar children showed the opposite result. In other words, in the case of dogs, there was a difference according to familiarity, but it was found that the interaction between dogs and children had a positive effect on each other.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
