Pets

X-SCITECH
Dogs and people bond through eye contact

By Michael Casey
April 17, 2015 / 12:50 PM EDT / CBS News
Dog owners often talk about their pets like they're part of the family. In fact, it often seems as though the family pooch is seen as another one of the kids. Now, scientists have found that the connections between humans and their dogs have the same biochemical basis as the mother-child bond, and it's strengthened by the same thing: a loving gaze.

A new study in Science led by Takefumi Kikusui, an animal behaviorist at Azabu University in Japan, carried out a series of experiments that examined the impact of the gaze in the dogs and their owners and found that those puppy dog eyes are even more meaningful than we thought.

"Our data suggest that owner-dog bonding is comparable to human parent-infant bonding, that is, oxytocin-mediated eye-gaze bonding," Kikusui said. "And this is surprising to us because there is not a reproductive relationship between human and dogs, but both of them have acquired similar skills."
Oxytocin is a hormone associated with trust and maternal bonding - it increases when you're close to someone you love and gives you that warm fuzzy feeling.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dogs-and-people-bond-through-eye-contact/