{"id":69371,"date":"2022-11-14T08:26:24","date_gmt":"2022-11-14T14:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stress.org\/?p=69371"},"modified":"2024-04-06T06:13:05","modified_gmt":"2024-04-06T06:13:05","slug":"how-your-dog-knows-youre-stressed","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.stress.org\/news\/how-your-dog-knows-youre-stressed\/","title":{"rendered":"How Your Dog Knows You\u2019re Stressed"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"blog-entry__subtitle--full\">Discoveries that could lead to advances in training.<\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"blog_entry__key-points-title\">KEY POINTS<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"blog_entry__key-points-item-list\">\n<li class=\"blog_entry__key-points-item\">Research has established dogs&#8217; ability to sense human changes in medical conditions and emotions.<\/li>\n<li class=\"blog_entry__key-points-item\">A recent study examined how dogs know when negative stress affects humans.<\/li>\n<li class=\"blog_entry__key-points-item\">With training, dogs can use their sense of smell to detect chemical changes in human breath and sweat when someone is stressed.\n<div>\n<div id=\"block-pt-content\" class=\"block\">\n<article role=\"article\" data-history-node-id=\"1180648\">\n<div class=\"blog-entry--body\">\n<div class=\"blog-entry--body-second\">\n<div class=\"field-name-body\">\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-69375 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/pexels-matheus-bertelli-573258-scaled-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/pexels-matheus-bertelli-573258-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.stress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/pexels-matheus-bertelli-573258-scaled-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.stress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/pexels-matheus-bertelli-573258-scaled-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.stress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/pexels-matheus-bertelli-573258-scaled-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.stress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/pexels-matheus-bertelli-573258-scaled-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.stress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/pexels-matheus-bertelli-573258-scaled-1-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.stress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/pexels-matheus-bertelli-573258-scaled-1-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/>We know that dogs can likely sense when humans are stressed. Now, researchers at The Queens University at Belfast have figured out at least one way how.<\/p>\n<p>Stress, generally defined as a physiological and psychological response to challenging circumstances, drives\u00a0<a class=\"basics-link\" title=\"Psychology Today looks at anxiety\" href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/basics\/anxiety\" hreflang=\"en\">anxiety<\/a>, panic attacks, and\u00a0<a class=\"basics-link\" title=\"Psychology Today looks at PTSD\" href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/basics\/post-traumatic-stress-disorder\" hreflang=\"en\">PTSD<\/a>. Anxiety worsens when the person experiencing stress doesn\u2019t feel they can control the situation. When experienced as an adverse event, stress can evoke some of the same physical responses as\u00a0<a class=\"basics-link\" title=\"Psychology Today looks at fear\" href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/basics\/fear\" hreflang=\"en\">fear<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"markup-replacement-slot markup-replacement-slot-0\" data-slot-position=\"0\"><\/div>\n<p>Some physiological changes that occur in humans when stressed include increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, respiratory distress, and release of the\u00a0<a class=\"basics-link\" title=\"Psychology Today looks at hormones\" href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/basics\/hormones\" hreflang=\"en\">hormones<\/a>\u00a0epinephrine and cortisol into the bloodstream. Whether or not someone experiences these physical changes, and to what degree, depends on whether stress is felt more negatively, as a threat, or in a more positive light, as a challenge.<\/p>\n<div class=\"markup-replacement-slot markup-replacement-slot-1\" data-slot-position=\"1\"><\/div>\n<p>Owners of trained medical alert dogs report that stress is the condition that most commonly causes the dogs to display alert. Studies have shown that dogs sense human feelings and emotions through sound and sight. Dogs also experience emotional contagion and \u201cmirror\u201d or reflect their owners\u2019 state of mind. A dog\u2019s blood levels of cortisol can even be similar to that of its owners.<\/p>\n<p>A sense of smell is essential for dogs to understand their surrounding environment. Therefore, the British researchers tested the premise that dogs respond to changes in human physiology associated with a psychological state (such as negative stress) by detecting changes in the human body odor.<\/p>\n<p>Previous studies established that humans release different levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in their breath and skin when calm and experiencing stress. This study aimed to determine whether or not dogs can discriminate between different levels of VOCs.<\/p>\n<div class=\"markup-replacement-slot markup-replacement-slot-3\" data-slot-position=\"3\"><\/div>\n<p>They took breath and sweat samples from 30 participants\u2014both dog owners and strangers\u2014while feeling neutral and while they experienced a state of stress through an experimentally-induced psychological threat: solving a difficult math problem under pressure for timing and accuracy while being given no feedback.<\/p>\n<div class=\"markup-replacement-slot markup-replacement-slot-4\" data-slot-position=\"4\"><\/div>\n<p>The researchers used self-reported stress scales and measures of heart rate and blood pressure at baseline and during\u00a0<a class=\"basics-link\" title=\"Psychology Today looks at stressful\" href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/basics\/stress\" hreflang=\"en\">stressful<\/a>\u00a0events. This method ensured that human study participants\u2014the dog owners and other strangers to the dogs\u2014were experiencing negative stress when samples were collected.<\/p>\n<p>The study dogs\u2014a cocker spaniel, a cockapoo, and two with undetermined mixed-breed backgrounds\u2014were trained to recognize and discriminate between the baseline and stress samples and to perform alert behavior when presented with stress samples.<\/p>\n<div class=\"markup-replacement-slot markup-replacement-slot-5\" data-slot-position=\"5\"><\/div>\n<p>Researchers kept dog handlers unaware of which sample was which, so they wouldn\u2019t be able to influence the dog\u2019s decisions.<\/p>\n<p>Each dog participated in 20\u00a0<a class=\"basics-link\" title=\"Psychology Today looks at discrimination\" href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/basics\/bias\" hreflang=\"en\">discrimination<\/a>\u00a0trials, and their choices were consistently performed with high accuracy, above the level that could be considered chance. Statistically, the dogs\u2019 overall performance was 93.75 percent correct choices and 94.44 percent of the time correctly choosing stress samples, almost always on first exposure to the sample. Testing also indicated that the dogs used only scent and not any other type of cues to discriminate among samples.<\/p>\n<p>This study contributes to further understanding of dog-human relationships and confirms differences in human VOC levels while relaxed and experiencing stress. With training, dogs can detect these differences.<\/p>\n<p>These results are important because they indicate that adding\u00a0<a class=\"basics-link\" title=\"Psychology Today looks at olfactory\" href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/basics\/scent\" hreflang=\"en\">olfactory<\/a>\u00a0distinction exercises could be useful in the current training programs for medical and psychological service dogs that are most often based only on visual cues.<\/p>\n<div class=\"markup-replacement-slot markup-replacement-slot-7\" data-slot-position=\"7\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/cravings\/202210\/how-your-dog-knows-you-re-stressed\">Original post Psychology Today<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"markup-replacement-slot markup-replacement-slot-last\" data-slot-position=\"last\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/photo\/girl-and-dog-sleeping-on-gray-pavement-573258\/\">Photo by Matheus Bertelli:<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"blog-entry-references\" data-hide-large-count-items=\"false\">\n<p class=\"blog-entry-references-label\">References<\/p>\n<div class=\"blog-entry-references-content-items\">\n<div class=\"blog-entry-references-content\">\n<p>Wilson C, Campbell K, Petzel Z, Reeve C. Dogs can discriminate between human baseline and psychological stress condition odors. PlosOne. September 28, 2022; 17(9): DOI: 10.1371\/jourjal.pone.0274143<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.0274143\">https:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.02741\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"region__content-main-additional\">\n<div id=\"block-blogentryaboutauthor\" class=\"block block--content-main-additional\">\n<div class=\"layout-container--grid--content-main-additional\">\n<div class=\"layout-content-left-rail\">\n<h2 class=\"block-title\">About the Author<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"layout-content-main\">\n<div class=\"about-author-card\">\n<div class=\"about-author__photo\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/contributors\/susan-mcquillan-0\" hreflang=\"en\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn2.psychologytoday.com\/assets\/styles\/thumbnail_115x140\/public\/field_user_blogger_photo\/susan.jpg?itok=TBeO2il3\" alt=\"\" width=\"115\" height=\"140\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 115px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 115\/140;\" \/> \u00a0 <\/a><strong>Susan McQuillan<\/strong>\u00a0MS, RDN, is a food, health, and lifestyle writer.<\/div>\n<div class=\"about-author__copy\">\n<div class=\"about-author-online\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Discoveries that could lead to advances in training. KEY POINTS Research has established dogs&#8217; ability to sense human changes in medical conditions and emotions. A recent study examined how dogs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":69376,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"pmpro_default_level":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false},"categories":[139],"tags":[136,137,138,141,120,147,175],"class_list":["post-69371","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-life-blog","tag-ais","tag-american-institute-of-stress","tag-anxiety","tag-health","tag-stress","tag-stress-management","tag-stress-reduction","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Your Dog Knows You\u2019re Stressed - The American Institute of Stress<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stress.org\/news\/how-your-dog-knows-youre-stressed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Your Dog Knows You\u2019re Stressed - The American Institute of Stress\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discoveries that could lead to advances in training. 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