Why do we
love our pets so much? And why do they love us? These are the central questions
posed by Meg Daley Olmert's 2009 book
about the biology of the human-animal bond.
Her
inquiry follows the research done on the role of the hormone oxytocin in animal
behavior. If you're of a certain age, you probably think of oxytocin as the
hormone that initiates labor, delivery and lactation in humans. But over recent
years, research has focused on the much broader role that oxytocin plays across
all mammal behavior, and especially in that of domesticated animals.
As it
turns out, according to Olmert, oxytocin suppresses the fight or flight
response, one of the most powerful motivators in the animal kingdom; it also
stimulates trusting, close, and nurturing behavior and lowers stress hormones,
heart rate and blood pressure. In fact, Olmert and others make the argument
that oxytocin may have been a major factor in the domestication of animals.
Olmert
brings a new perspective to several of the major themes in the behavior of
domesticated animals, covering well known stories such as Clever Hans, the
"trick" horse, Rico, the brilliant German Border Collie and the
taming of the Russian silver fox and points to what she thinks is the role of
oxytocin in these events.
The
central theme of the book is the relationship between pet dogs and humans. It's
now possible to measure the degree of oxytocin produced by interacting with our
pets and, as you might expect, petting a dog produces high levels of oxytocin
in both the human and the dog. The best anti-stress results are produced at
forty strokes a minute, the same rate we naturally use to stroke our pets.
One study
showed that the biggest factor in who survived a heart attack was not family or
friendship, but whether a patient had a pet. Interestingly, another study
showed that when humans are performing a stress test, having a friend or spouse
nearby had no effect on reducing heart and blood pressure, but the presence of
their dogs kept them significantly calmer.
Simply owning a cat produced a 30% reduction in the incidence of heart
attack. It is often said that during tough times people prefer the comfort of a
pet even to their closest human kin.
Is anyone
surprised that stroking a pet produces a feeling of well-being? Well, no. But
it is interesting to see this profound effect has shaped our shared history
with animals and to speculate on how we might leverage the effects of oxytocin
to improve our future. It certainly helps to illuminate why so many of us have
chosen to work with animals and why we derive such pleasure from it. Grooming
produces oxytocin in both the groomer and the groomee!
