Researchers seem to have confirmed that dogs will try to cheer up owners who appear to be crying, which will probably come as no surprise to dog lovers.
The data seems to confirm that dogs are in tune with their owners’ emotional state and can read social cues, perhaps giving a new meaning to puppy love.
In the study published in the Learning & Behavior journal , 34 dog owners and their pets were put behind a closed door and asked to either hum a nursery-rhyme tune or pretend to be crying.
The dogs were three time faster to figure out how to open the door to comfort the owners who were crying. The scientists also found that the canines who quickly nosed through the door had lower stress levels that those who wanted to help their masters but couldn’t figure out how to take action.
“We found dogs not only sense what their owners are feeling, if a dog knows a way to help them, they’ll go through barriers to provide to help them,” observed Emily Sanford of Johns Hopkins University, the study’s lead author, the London Telegraph reported.
Added the Independent of London: “While you may often wonder whether your furry friend genuinely loves you as much as you do them, recent research suggests that dogs clearly demonstrate their affection when their owners are showing visible signs of upset.”
