Dogs are known to exponentially help relieve stress from pet owners. However, one must wonder how does our stress affect our dogs? Here is some research to help understand the relationship between human stress and dog stress.

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Impact of Long-Term Stress on Dogs

Studies shows that dogs are very accustomed to humans. This means that dogs will often mirror their emotions in sensitive moments. These are moments such as when we get super excited, or super upset, we’ll notice our pets react to this.

This presents the questions: Does human long-term stress levels affect canine companions? The answer is yes.

In 2019 a study was published by Lina Roth. Her team analyzed the level of cortisol in about 58 dogs and owners. This test allows tracking the level of stress hormones experienced by each over time. It was found that the level of cortisol found in the dog’s hair was found to be the same in the human’s hair. This tells us that our dogs feelings are synchronized with the way we feel.

Does Long-Term Stress Affect All Dogs in the Same Way?

With the research being completed, they team still had questions such as does the breed of the dog impact this relationship of stress? It was found that breed such as Border Collies, and Shetland Sheepdogs are bred to be responsive to humans. These were the initial breeds in the first study.

In the on-going studies Roth and her team focused on breed that is opposite to those in the first studies. These were dogs bred for hunting such as Dachshund, and ancient dogs like Shiba Inu.

Again, the team compared hair-cortisol levels between the dogs and their owners alongside an interview about both their dogs and their relationship with their dog. After the studies were conducted they found that the owner’s personality affects the stress level in hunting dogs, but not in the ancient dogs like the Shiba Inu.

This shows that the effect of human stress on our dogs is higher towards breeds that were developed for human cooperation, but ultimately all breeds are affected by the relationship they have with their owner

What Does All This Mean for Dog Owners?

This study shows us that dog personalities and stress level are affected by the relationship with their owners. With that being noted, the best takeaway from this study is that this gives pet’s owner more reason to connect closely with their pet. This will help translate happiness, and love to your pet as well as improve your own stress levels.

CBD Oil is a great natural supplement to help relieve stress in dogs.