Many people have dogs in their homes and get amazing pleasure from socializing and walking with them. There must be a scientific explanation for this, and it's not complicated at all. It was given by Meg Olmert, author of Made for Each Other: The Biology of Human-Animal Relationships, in a material prepared by our colleagues at Business Insider. She spoke about the history of the relationship between dogs and humans and the impact of this relationship on the human body.
When people started taking dogs
According to Meg, the first relationship between humans and dogs began about 45,000 years ago. This data comes from archaeological excavations that confirm that around this time, dogs began to live with humans. This had a definite impact on their biology and physiology. This relationship was preceded by many hundreds of thousands of years of human relationships with wolves, which were significantly less intimate and more pragmatic.
How communication with a dog affects a person
Meg is convinced of the existence of a system of neurochemical, psychological and behavioral feedback that is established between the owner and his pet. According to her, the owner is the greatest thing a dog has ever seen, with whom he has established communication. It is for this reason that the relationship between you and your dog is not at all the same as the relationship between you and your neighbor's dog.
An example is a mother who experiences completely different emotions when looking at a photograph of her child and when looking at photographs of other children. When a person sees their child or their pet, brain regions in areas rich in dopamine and oxytocin are activated. In this case, the heart rate decreases, blood pressure decreases, opioids, adrenaline and serotonin are released. These are anti-stress chemicals and are secreted by both the owner and the pet.
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Communication with a dog makes a person calmer and gives him pleasure. The production of adrenaline and serotonin can be triggered in a number of ways, but this method is very simple, affordable, and has no side effects.
Do dogs have a therapeutic effect?
There are programs in which dogs are used for therapeutic purposes. Meg Olmert is also working on such a program. It's called the Warrior Canine Connection. As part of this program, Meg helps people with PTSD and stress. Many of the patients say their dog is better than any medication.
Ernest Vasilevsky