Dog owners will swear that their pet understands them, and a new study from the UK shows that their words do make an impact.
The team at Canine Cottages found that owners saying “I love you” to their pets increased their heart rates up by 46%. This shows that dogs do in fact understand the meaning behind these words and have a measurable emotional response to them.
For this study, dogs were given special collars that measured their heart rates to see how different interactions affected their emotional responses. Over the 7 days of the study, researchers found that when owners said “I love you” the dogs’ average heart rate increased from 67 bpm to 98 bpm, an almost 46% increase.
The team also found that owners cuddling with their pets created a relaxing effect in the dogs, with a decrease in heart rate by 23%. On average, the dogs’ heart rates dropped from 67 bpm to 52 bpm when being cuddled by their owners.
During the study, they also tracked the owners’ heart rates to see how much they truly loved their furry friends. They found that owners’ heart rates increased by 10% upon seeing their pet after being away for a long period of time.
In response to the findings, Shannon Keary, campaigns manager at Canine Cottages, noted:
“In the UK we are a nation of dog lovers, but although we know how much we love our pets, we’ve never really known if, or how, our dogs show their affection for us, which is why we conducted this research.”
“It’s amazing to see that our dogs’ heart rates increase when they are told they are loved, showing excitement, and decreases when having cuddles, showing contentedness,” she said. “It’s also interesting to see all the weird and wonderful ways our pets show their love for us. From this data, we can now officially say that our dogs really do love us!”
While the study’s small sample size presents a limitation, many dog owners likely recognize that their pets can not only understand what we mean when we’re talking to them, but that they also receive, appreciate, and express love.
So make sure you tell your dogs that you love them every day, and give them plenty of cuddles. It’s good for your health and theirs.
