Petting your dog after a difficult day often gives the impression of relieving the pressure. However, a team of psychologists shows that this gesture does not really make stress disappear in the moment, but that it changes the way the body handles the next wave. Their experiment, carried out in the laboratory with dog owners, focuses on the role of touch.
The dog caress experiment
Carried out at the University of Innsbruck and published in the journal
Biological Psychologythe study by Vanessa Kaufmann, Xiaoqin Cheng and Annett Schirmer followed 64 adults and their dogs during two rounds of stressful tests. Each participant went through the same sequence twice: five minutes of rest, ten minutes of general knowledge questions and timed mental arithmetic with negative comments by videoconference, then a short recovery and another rest. The dog only appeared during a five-minute “break” between the two blocks, either freely accessible to be stroked or present but out of reach.
During rest and stress phases, the researchers measured EEG brain waves, heart rate and heart rate variability, which reflects the action of the parasympathetic nervous system. The difference appears especially in the second passage: after a break with contact, the participants showed a slower heart, higher heart variability and less diminished alpha waves. “Our results suggest that physical contact with a pet can reduce the intensity with which the body reacts to a subsequent stressful situation“, Vanessa Kaufmann and Annett Schirmer explain to PsyPost.
Touching your dog and resilience to stress
In psychology, we speak of a “stress buffering effect” to describe the way in which protective social contact buffers the body’s reactions. Research has shown that a few minutes of shoulder massage before a public speech reduces increases in heart rate and stress hormones. Here, the same principle appears with a pet dog, especially as an anticipated shield rather than a simple return to calm.
Concretely, spend five minutes pet your dog after a trying situation could help the body to cope with the next surge of stress more calmly. The effects observed remain moderate and result from a very controlled protocol. The authors also warn: “Real-life stress is varied and complex, and it is not clear that different types of stress benefit equally from touch“.
Respect your dog’s wishes
Videos of the experiment show that participants spontaneously spent the break touching their dog, sometimes when the animal seemed to have had enough. Vanessa Kaufmann and Annett Schirmer emphasize this ethical point: “Physical contact with another being should always be mutually desired and positive“Observing whether the dog comes closer, relaxes or moves away remains essential.