Research shows that: Dogs really Know How to Cry Because of Emotions

According to scientists, the crying response in dogs is due to a long history of domestication, it seems that humans have developed a closer relationship with them than other animals.

Like humans, dogs are emotional animals. Dogs sometimes experience feelings of sadness or happiness, but to express these emotions, they use different ways of expressing them, such as wagging their tails happily or with their ears folded in sadness. or groan.

If their eyes are wet, it is a sign that your pet has health problems such as keratitis, allergies, blocked tear ducts, etc.

But that is the conclusion of previous scientific studies. According to the results of a new study conducted by Japanese scientists, dogs also know how to shed tears because of emotions.

The study, published in the scientific journal Current Biology on September 4, confirmed that the dogs shed tears of joy when reunited with their beloved owners, even if only for a few hours.

Miho Nagasawa - an animal behavior expert working at Azabu University (Japan), and a member of the research team - said that animals often shed tears as a natural response of the body. to protect their eyes.

However, this is the first time that scientists have confirmed that dogs can also cry as an emotional response.

The number of tears in dogs can increase due to the body's production of oxytocin, commonly known as the "love hormone," when they become excited after meeting their owners.

Ms. Nagasawa said: "The cry response in dogs is due to a long history of domestication. It seems that we humans have developed a stronger relationship with them than other animals. ".

The results of experiments performed on 18 dogs that had to be separated from their owners for 5-7 hours showed that the number of tears in the dogs after seeing their owners again was about 10% higher than before they were abused. separated from the owner.

The same did not happen when these dogs were paired with people who were not their owners. The number of tears also increased when dogs were given eye drops containing oxytocin.

According to Ms. Nagasawa, eyes are considered very important to humans, and accordingly, people also have more sympathy for "cry" dogs.

An experiment was conducted on 75 people, in which they were shown pictures of dogs before and after instilling eye drops. The results showed that they had stronger feelings for dogs with "tears" eyes.