London – That hopeful, longing look… the solemn little face… the wag of the tail… only the most hardened of hearts are completely unmoved by a dog’s ‘puppy eyes’ gaze.
Now scientists have found our canine friends know exactly what they’re doing when they lock eyes with us – and they’re not simply after our sandwich.
Eye contact between humans and dogs sparks a surge in powerful ‘bonding’ hormones. The very same hormone, called oxytocin, plays a key role in the bonding between mother and baby, and is also produced when they share eye contact.
Scientists believe dogs ‘hijacked’ this mechanism to win over the hearts of humans, when they first became domesticated some 30,000 years ago.
Eye contact between humans and wolves do not have the same effect, suggesting this evolutionary change is what differentiated dogs from wild canines.
And the surge in affection goes both ways, with oxytocin also increasing in dogs when they looked at humans, concreting their own feelings of affection.
The experts, from the Japanese universities of Azabu, Jichi and Tokyo, wrote in the journal Science: ‘In humans, ‘mutual gaze’ is the most fundamental manifestation of social attachment.’
They reached their conclusions after measuring oxytocin in the dogs and owners after periods of shared eye contact. In a second experiment, they sprayed oxytocin into the noses of dogs and put them in a room with their owners and some strangers. The dogs responded by gazing at their owners more. After 30 minutes, oxytocin levels had also increased even further in the owners.
Daily Mail