Jun 20, 2021 09:00:00

Research results show that dogs with advanced breeding are more susceptible to human emotions

Previous studies have suggested that 'owner's stress is transmitted to their dogs,' but a new study found that 'breeding dogs are particularly susceptible to stress from their owners.'

Long-term stress in dogs is related to the human–dog relationship and personality traits | Scientific Reports

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-88201-y

Long-term stress in dogs linked to the owner-dog relationship --Linköping University
https://liu.se/en/news-item/hundars-langtidsstress-kopplad-till-relationen-med-agarna

Your Relationship With Your Dog Has a Curious Link to Their Long-Term Stress
https://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-how-the-dog-owner-relationship-affects-long-term-stress-in-pooches

The series of results was announced by a research team of Professor Elver Theodorson and Lina Ross of Linköping University, Sweden. In 2019, Professor Theodorson and his colleagues announced the results of a survey that 'owner's stress is transmitted to their dogs.' The study followed the stress hormone cortisol over a year in 33 Shetland Sheepdogs and 25 Border Collies, a total of 58 and their owners.

As a result of continuous measurement of cortisol levels measured from the dog's hair and the owner's hair, it was found that the owner's cortisol level and the dog's cortisol level were synchronized. Furthermore, it was found that the cortisol level of the dog is greatly influenced by the 'owner's personality' rather than the dog's own personality.

However, according to Professor Theodorson and others, there was a problem in this study that 'the Shetland Sheepdog and Border Collie that were the subjects of the study belong to sheep dogs born by breeding humans.' To investigate this issue, Professor Theodorson and colleagues conducted a survey similar to 2019 with 24

Ancient breeds and 18 hunting dog breeds, which are considered to be close to wolves based on genetic data. However, both dogs and owners tracked cortisol levels. In addition, as an improvement from the 2019 study, we asked owners to complete a questionnaire that examined their personality and relationship with dogs.

As a result, the same result as in 2019 was confirmed that 'the personality of the owner affects the stress level' in the hunting dog breed, but it can not be said that it affects the ancient breed. In addition, the answers regarding 'relationship with dogs' obtained from the questionnaire also correlated with the stress levels of both dogs, but the relationship was also low in the case of ancient breeds.

From the above results, Professor Theodorson et al. 'Long-term stress is most strongly influenced by the' relationship with the owner 'in the case of ancient breeds, but in the case of hunting dog breeds, the' personality of the owner 'and the' relationship with the owner ' It is clearly influenced by both. Also, the phenomenon that the stress values of the owner and the dog are synchronized is only in the hunting breed. '

Professor Theodorson and his colleagues say that they plan to increase the number of dog breeds to be tested in the future and expand the number of years of research to a span of several years.