Discover how the relationship with your dog affects his stress management and ends his reactivity

Scientists want to know if the quality of the bond you have with your dog can affect your body’s physiological response to stressful situations.  This is closely related to their level of reactivity. Therefore, if your dog is reactive, knowing the latest scientific advances will help you improve your relationship with your dog and control its behavior.

Attachment is the physiological need of an individual to be close to their caregiver. 

Attachment has an adaptive and evolutionary sense, since it provides protection and security. Attachment therefore increases the probability of survival of the species .

The expression of attachment in the individual occurs through the search to be in contact and close to the referent. 

The affective response shown by the referent to the offspring’s attachment behaviors will determine several aspects in the subject’s life:

1. The quality of the affective bond and the attachment model that the individual will develop.
2. The individual’s perception of himself, that is, his self- esteem .
3. The type of relationships you will be able to establish with others.

The emotional bond between dogs and their owners never ceases to amaze us.

Science has shown that the union with our pets is very similar to the one we establish with our children .

When we look at each other and share spaces with our dog, we feel good. The blame for this pleasant feeling is oxytocin . Oxytocin has the mission of strengthening affective ties and making them as strong as the love of newly delivered mothers with their newborns. An emotional intoxication, which offers your dog its place in your life and on your sofa.

Unfortunately, the number of abandoned dogs each year tells us that the bond with our dog can also be twisted.

In some cases, the relationship between dogs and humans, instead of being beneficial for both, becomes an emotional or economic burden, entering a situation in which the dog has become a parasite.

Attachment variants with dogs are reduced to two categories: secure attachment and insecure attachment.

Secure attachment: Dogs that are considered by their guardians as one more member of the family that contributes something and has a role show secure attachment. They are considerate dogs, with their needs met and much loved. Generally, dogs with secure attachment establish a mutualistic relationship with their guardians where both benefit. 

Insecure attachment: They show insecure attachment to dogs that are considered an emotional or financial burden by their guardians. Their basic needs are neglected, as is their emotional language. In many cases, this situation is reached as a result of the tutor’s ignorance or lack of training. 

These types of relationships can be classified as parasitic. In them, far from being a benefit, dogs and people are harmed. You can find out more about the types of relationships we establish with dogs in this very interesting article .

When a dog is faced with a novel situation, a physiological response occurs in his body that we can measure. For example, it increases heart rate, respiratory rate, and cortisol (stress hormone) levels. 

• Acute stress : Stress levels increase abruptly and intensely in response to a stimulus, context or situation.  This peak of stress generates a reaction in the animal that takes it out of its natural state, or homeostasis .
• Chronic stress: it is produced by the accumulation in the body of the physiological processes activated in situations of acute stress. The appearance of these responses on a recurring basis can easily lead to health problems.

A dog is reactive to a stimulus, context or situation when its stress levels at a specific moment of exposure to such a stimulus, context or situation exceed a certain threshold, thus generating reactive behavior.

Reactive behaviors, in addition to being very costly energetically for the dog, can be tremendously uncomfortable for their handler or guardian.

The scientific results known to date in relation to the level of stress and the type of attachment between dogs and their guardians show that the figure of secure attachment becomes a buffer against stress.

This means that dogs that are emotionally considered and understood by their guardian suffer a lower rise in stress in complicated situations. Generally, this support translates into a more adaptive and rational management of negative emotions by the dog.

A healthy emotional bond and a secure attachment system with your dog are the first step so that your dog walks calmly and does not bark or jump at everything that crosses his path.

This does not take away its importance when working on behavior and its modification. Far from it, he warns that proposing a behavior modification program, without considering the link with the referent, is a serious mistake.

Dogs are animals that love us, their brain and ours generate substances that make us feel good when we share time together, such as oxytocin . 

Proposing a behavior modification for a dog, based on associative learning or conditioned responses, will be a failure if we do not take into account the great differential power of our dogs: their relationship with us .

Referencias:

Riggio, G., et al. 2022. Physiological Indicators of Acute and Chronic Stress in Securely and Insecurely Attached Dogs Undergoing a Strange Situation Procedure (SSP): Preliminary Results. Veterinary Sciences, 9(10), 519.

Solomon, J., et al. 2019. Attachment security in companion dogs: Adaptation of Ainsworth’s strange situation and classification procedures to dogs and their human caregivers. Attachment & human development, 21(4), 389-417.