Dogs Can Make A Difference In Psychological Conditions Of Humans, Research: They Know If We Are Stressed

Illustration of a dog being able to identify the owner is under stress, research findings on dog pets (Freepik/Lookstudio)

YOGYAKARTA Dogs have a sophisticated sense of smell. Besides being empowered into sniffer dogs, dog trainers also teach how they can sniff out various diseases. According to recent research, dogs as pets can recognize facial expressions and human movements so they can recognize how they feel undisclosed.

Launching Psychology Today, Friday, September 30, dogs can recognize someone who is stressed. According to research conducted by Clara Wilson and her colleague from Queen's University in Belfast, it reports that dogs can distinguish human psychological conditions, including when they are stressed.

Researchers say they study whether dogs trained with the 'paradigm of aroma discrimination' can distinguish psychological threats experienced by humans through a combination of breath and sweat. These samples are taken from human participants who experience experimental induction or psychologically threatened circumstances. Participants are asked to solve mental arrhythmic problems, this can make them very stressed.

The researchers also trained 20 dogs in Belfast. Four anies are named Treo, Fingal, Soot, and control. They are used to test how well they detect stress. The four dogs were exposed to 36 samples of breath and smell collected and were able to distinguish between the samples taken. They can differentiate at the initial level when people are not stressed and when stressed.

Although only 4 dogs were studied, the reported data was very strong. In the end, they found out that dogs could sniff out the psychological condition of their owners.

Another study conducted by researchers from Sweden's Linköping University showed that the level of dog stress was greatly influenced by the owner, not the other way around. The researcher said, The dog most reflects the stress level of the owner.

The researchers saw the concentration of stress hormones, cortisol on dogs and their owners as stress indicators. Not only recognizing the owner is stressed, it turns out that dogs are also influenced by the psychological condition of the owner.

The two studies described above, actually describe the relationship between stress and human emotions as well as their pets. Launching Healthline, Greg Nelson, DVM., a veterinarian at the Central Veterinary Associates, Valley Stream, New York, said that intuitively confirming the psychological relationships that affect its overmoderate animal owners and dogs. Apart from being intuitive, pets have emotional relationships as well as scientific evidence.