Mary Allen
It’s finally official: your dog loves you as much as you love her! Like us humans, your dog’s heart rate increases when he hugs you, her human – or when he hears the words “I love you.”
Dog owners have long suspected that our love for four-legged friends is not one-sided.
On the contrary, dogs are also happy when we confess our love to them, and hugs together provide complete relaxation of fur noses.
This is the result of a study by Canine Cottages, a UK-based dog house rental company. To do this, they equipped four dogs with heart rate monitors for seven days. At the same time, the heart rate was measured in different situations.
Result: If the owners confessed their love for their dogs, the animals’ pulse increased by almost 50 percent. The situation is different when they cuddle: a study showed that the heart rate in dogs dropped by about 23 percent.
Your Dog is Happy When You Confess Your Love
Thus, these results show that when we say “I love you” to our dogs, they get aroused and respond with a rapid heartbeat. On the other hand, loving body contact during hugs seems to relax not only us but our fur noses as well.
“It’s great to see our dogs’ heart rate increase when we tell them we love them, which shows their excitement. On the other hand, the fact that the heart rate decreases during cuddling are a sign of satisfaction, “Campaign Manager Shannon Keery tells People Magazine. Based on this data, we can now officially say that our dogs really love us. …
However, little is known about the scientific basis of the study. So it could very well be that dogs’ heart rate usually increases when they hear our voices – no matter what we say.
Dogs are Happy to Meet
On average, the hearts of the four dogs in the study beat 67 times per minute. With the words “I love you,” they increased to 98 beats per minute. The company also tested the owners’ love for their four-legged friends. When the owners saw their dogs again after a long time, their pulse quickened by about ten percent – a clear sign of excitement and joy at the new meeting.
The study also looked at how dogs express their love for people. Aside from licking, kissing, and hugging, you can also listen when the dog presents its belly, greets you, wants to protect you, or shares its toys with you.