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Dog-owner bond similar to mother-infant relationship
woman with dog
"The human-dog relationship is exceptional because it is an interspecies form of attachment."
Mutual gazing between dog and owner triggers oxytocin release

Dog owners often admit to loving their pet as much as (or even more than) members of their family. New research findings may explain this, suggesting eye contact between dogs and owners triggers the release of oxytocin, facilitating the same bonding process that occurs between a mother and her child.

A team of Japanese scientists believe dogs may have acquired human methods of communication during domestication.

According to their research, which has been published in the journal Science, mutual gazing between dogs and owners triggered a significant increase in urinary oxytocin, which is also known as the 'love hormone'.

Gaze is an important part of human communication, enabling us to interpret another's intention and also, crucially, to establish relationships, for example social attachment between mother and infant.

Eye contact between a mother and her child releases oxytocin, which drives bonding between the two and generates maternal behaviours.

Writing in Science, researchers said: "The human-dog relationship is exceptional because it is an interspecies form of attachment."

Dogs and owners involved with the Japanese study were urine tested before and after a 30 minute period of interaction with one another. Dogs were divided into two groups - 'long gaze' and 'short gaze'. Owners and dogs in the long gaze group showed a significantly greater increase in oxytocin levels.

The same experiment was also carried out on hand-reared wolves. This group rarely showed mutual gazing with their owners and oxytocin levels remained unchanged. This suggests mutual gazing as a form of communication between dogs and owners evolved during domestication.

Commenting on the findings in Science, the researchers wrote: "These results suggest that humans may feel affection for their companion dogs similar to that felt toward human family members and that dog-associated visual stimuli, such as eye-gaze contact from their dogs activate oxytocin systems."

For the full research report: www.sciencemag.org/content/348/6232/333.full

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Cold-water dip to raise funds for Vetlife

News Story 1
 The veterinary mental health charity Vetlife is inviting the veterinary community to join it for a sponsored cold-water dip.

The event will take place at Walpole Bay, Margate, on 17 May during Mental Health Awareness Week. Participants of all abilities can join in the challenge and are advised to bring a towel, a hot drink, a snack, and warm clothes to get changed into afterwards.

Those taking part are being asked to try to raise 100 each to support the work of the charity.

Details about how to take part can be found here. 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
Bluetongue low vector period ends

In an update to its bluetongue guidance, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced that the seasonal low vector period for the disease has ended.

With winter over, Defra is planning for a possible increase in cases as midges become more active. It has warned that farms along the east coast of England from Norfolk to Kent, and along the south coast from Kent to Devon, are at highest risk from infected midges blown over from northern Europe.

Since the virus was detected in England in November 2023, there have been 126 confirmed cases. The most recent case to be confirmed was on 1 March 2024.

Farmers are asked to continue to frequently monitor their livestock and ensure their animals and land are registered with the Animal and Plant Health Agency.