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If you are stressed your dog will be too.
Scientists have found that man’s best friend our dogs, pick up on their owner’s anxieties and become stressed too. 58 dogs,33 shetland sheepdogs, and 25 border collies and their female owners were studied by researchers. They took samples of hair from each dog and human and recorded the amount of cortisol a stress hormone.
Reports found that the cortisol levels in the human hair matched those that were found in their dogs. The researchers believe that it is the first time a study has shown synchronisation of long term stress between two different species.
It is thought that human’s influence their pets stress levels. Because people are a more central part of the dog’s life. Where humans have other social networks.
The amount of cortisol found in your hair can be influenced by depression, excessive exercise, and unemployment.
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