Health benefits of human hugs do not extend to dogs apparently. A new study published in Psychology Today suggested that dogs are actually stressed out by hugs.
How Did They Come To This Conclusion?
For the study, psychology professor and neuropsychological researcher, Stanley Coren and colleagues looked into 250 internet photos of people hugging their canine best friends. Browsing through Flickr and Google, they searched for terms like "hug dog" or "love dog" to come up with the pictures, Science of Us reported.
Then the researchers assessed the dog's body language, scanning for any sign of stress or anxiety. The dogs typically show signs of anxiety by turning their head away, making the whites of their eyes visible and lowering their ears against the side of the head. Just like humans, dog's eyes have the white part but they are only visible when they're anxious or stressed.
Results show that 82 percent of the dogs in the photos exhibited at least one sign of being anxious, U.S. News reported. Around 8 percent looked happy with the human affection while the remaining 10 percent appeared ambiguous. In short, 8 out of 10 dogs looked visibly uncomfortable.
Why Do They Feel Stressed Being Hugged?
According to animal psychologists, dogs feel anxious or stressed when they are embraced because it prevents them from being able to run away, Telegraph UK reports. The same sentiments were echoed by experts at The Kennel Club and Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. They advised owners not to treat their dogs like children as most of them do not like to be cuddled.
"Dogs are technically cursorial animals, which is a term that indicates that they are designed for swift running," said Dr. Coren wrote in an article in Psychology Today. "That implies that in times of stress or threat the first line of defence that a dog uses is not his teeth, but rather his ability to run away.
Behaviorists believe that restricting the dogs from moving increases their stress level and if it further escalates, the dogs may bite. A pat, a kind word or a treat are better ways of showing affection than a hug.
Will you stop hugging your cuddly dogs? Let us know what you think by leaving your comments below. To know more about your pet's feelings, take a look at this video:
