New Study Shows How Dogs’ Hearts Are In Sync With Their Owners’

dog with tongue out
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Last week, a truly upsetting study came out about how dogs don’t like it when humans hug them. That study, published in Psychology Today, concluded that though dogs usually seem pretty needy for love and affection from their human owners, they interpret hugs as an impediment to their instinct to run when they feel anxiety or stress.

Now there’s another study about dogs and humans that show that the two need each other after all. According to the Daily Mail, researchers from Melbourne, Australia’s Monash University separated dogs from their owners, put heart monitors on both subjects, then put the two back together. They found that both human and dog’s heart rates fell and ended up matching each other (in other words, both heart rates would rise and fall at the same time). One of the researchers, Mia Cobb, said that this result is to both of their benefit, and her colleague elaborated on why:

Colleague Dr Craig Duncan, said: ‘Stress is a major killer in today’s society and, as we get busier and busier, it is something that is really important for us to try to help with.

‘The Hearts Aligned project aims to show how pet ownership can help us positively deal with the stressors of everyday life.’

Nothing was said about whether heart rates matched up if the owner tried to hug his dog friend though.

(via Daily Mail)

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