FIIIIDDDOOO I’m home!! How about a kiss!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Seeing long lost friends and family can bring on the waterworks! But what about our furry four-legged friends? Do our dogs have a tearful reunion when they greet us at the door?
Enter Kaori Murata and colleagues at Azabu University in Japan.
They added the love hormone, oxytocin to puppy eyes. THIS love generated tears! Now, let’s try the reunion…
The researchers compared tear formation when pups were reunited with their owners versus random strangers. Who brought on the real waterworks? Pups reunited with owners had more tears! But there still were sniffles for non-familiar humans!
AWW they do love us!!
This study shows that our pups produce tears when they’re happy! Overall, this helps us better understand our connections with Man’s Best Friend!
Guess I will be working from home today! I don’t want to upset Fido – or change out of my pajamas!
Reference:
Murata, K., Nagasawa, M., Onaka, T., Kanemaki, N., Nakamura, S., Tsubota, K., Mogi, K., & Kikusui, T. (2022). Increase of tear volume in dogs after reunion with owners is mediated by oxytocin. Current Biology, 32(16), R869–R870. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.031