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What Happens When We Bend To Meet a Dog or Cat
It is a wealth of things
“Would it be OK to pet your dog?”
“Sure.” I reply.
My Corgi, Arthur, is a magnet. Whenever I take him out, people gravitate toward him. Inevitably, I spend a fair amount of time looking down at bodies bending to the pup.
Those bodies are petting the dog, looking at his face, talking to him, squeezing him, and smiling at him. While the humans are at it, Arthur the Corgi, wags his rump in happiness. Corgis have no tails.
Inevitably, when people rise from their bend, they all have cheery faces. When they look at me in gratitude, I, too, light up.
So, what was happening down there?
#1 We are getting a rush of Oxytocin.
Science reveals that whenever we make eye contact with a dog or cat, the “love hormone”, Oxytocin is released into our blood stream. This peptide hormone is also responsible for the warm and fuzzy feeling we get when we look at someone we love.
