A study conducted by the University of Linköping in Sweden and published on June 6th says that human stress affects pet dogs. According to the study, when humans and dogs live together it causes their level of cortisol (stress hormone) to sync with each other. The opposite, however, does not occur – that is, stress from dogs does not affect humans.

Scientists knew before the study that short periods of stress experienced by owners would make dogs feel stressed too. Now, the new study has shown that this also occurs in the long term when stress is constant in human life.

To reach this conclusion, 58 dogs (25 border collies and 33 Shetland sheepdogs) and their owners were analysed. The breeds were chosen because of their good interaction with humans. Cortisol levels were measured by analysing dog and human hair.

The next step in the study would be to investigate if this is observed in other breeds, when dogs are more independent from their owners or animals of other species.

Sources: BBC, Estadão, Linköping Universitet, Nature Magazine, and Science Daily.

Questions

1- Which of the statements is incorrect?
a. The dog breeds were chosen because they interacted well with humans.
b. Stress experienced by dogs is transferred to humans.
c. When the owner has a stressful routine, the dog develops this emotion.
d. The next step for researchers would be to study other breeds.

2- What do you think people could do to have a less stressful routine?

Ixi! Você bateu no paywall!

Ainda não é assinante? Assine agora e tenha acesso ilimitado ao conteúdo do Joca.

Assinante? Faça Login

Voltar para a home

Ou faça sua assinatura e tenha acesso a todo o conteúdo do Joca

Assine

Enquete

Sobre qual assunto você gosta mais de ler no portal do Joca?

Comentários (0)

Compartilhar por email

error: Contéudo Protegido