What does a dog's gaze mean? Science and superstition: why you can’t look into a cat’s eyes If a dog looks into a person’s eyes

A dog is undoubtedly man's friend. These animals are incredibly loyal and friendly. Many people consider dogs part of the family. True, beloved pets can sometimes also be dangerous and unfriendly. This often happens when we look into their eyes. Ask: “Why can’t you look your dog in the eye?”

The fact is that dogs are pack animals by nature. By exchanging glances, dogs exchange information, signaling a certain action (obedience or aggression). It is generally accepted that each flock is led by a leader. The rest of its members must obey. This is the reason that gaze Dogs can regard a person as an attack on leadership authority, and show their aggression. Here Why can't you look your dog straight in the eye?.

How to behave properly with dogs?

Even a friendly four-legged friend can show an angry grin. When we're talking about About animal instincts, dogs do not distinguish a person from an animal. An emotion such as laughter can sometimes cause aggression in them. They associate a person’s harmless smile with a grin. Therefore, in the struggle for the right to lead, the dog will even try to attack. There is no need to allow this to happen. Be careful with your emotions when showing them to your pets.

There are a number of rules that will help you behave correctly with an animal:

• do not look the dog directly in the eyes (they regard this as a direct challenge);
• There is no need to pet the dog when you meet him;
• hanging over the body is a direct threat for dogs (in such cases they try to quickly remove their head or bite);
• extend your palm to the dog (this way you will get to know him);
• in the company of unfamiliar dogs (mongrels), avoid sharp gestures and do not make loud sounds(they can provoke the animal into aggression);
• give the dog a treat (this way you will gain its trust);
• let the dog sniff you (it's their nature). By sniffing the dog receives necessary information, which will help her get to know a person better;
• If you are in the company of aggressive mongrels, do not run away.
• After looking into the eyes of an aggressive dog, try to quickly look away. Pretend that you accidentally leaned over a flower or a stone.

By adhering to these rules, you will avoid attacks and aggression from the animal.

Remember, when you bring an animal into your home, you take responsibility. Choose less controversial dog breeds (Newfoundlands or St. Bernards). When getting Dobermans, Afghan Shepherds and Cocker Spaniels, remember their aggressive nature. They are born leaders. Even a slight glance into their eyes can cause aggression. Once you have decided on the breed, do not forget about vaccinations against rabies and other diseases. Take your pet to the veterinarian for an examination and consultation.

When a person and a dog look into each other's eyes, their connection strengthens, Japanese scientists have found. It's all about oxytocin, a hormone that helps form attachment (for example, between a mother and her newborn). Its level rises sharply when the dog and owner are in close visual contact.

To prove this, several experiments were carried out. In one of them, dogs and owners were deliberately left alone in a room for 30 minutes. Later, those people and animals who spent more time looking into each other's eyes showed increased concentrations of oxytocin in their urine. It was also noted that these owners touched and talked to their pets more during the experiment. What could be more beautiful – both for dogs and for people?

The same experiment was repeated with wolves raised by humans and very attached to their owners. But oxytocin remained at the same level. The explanation followed: most likely, wolves, even domesticated ones, perceive visual contact primarily as a threat and often simply avoid looking people in the eyes.

In addition, during the experiments, a “biologically positive Feedback» between dogs and their owners - an increase in oxytocin levels in one causes an increase in the hormone in the other. “Looking into the eyes in the process of human evolution has become important means communication between people,” explains study co-author and veterinarian Takefumi Kikusui from Azabu University in Kanagawa in Japan. He suggests that during the domestication of dogs, eye-to-eye gaze became a means of communication between owner and pet, which helped them become attached to each other.

According to Kikusui, a similar effect may be found in cats. However, this assumption requires verification. It is known that in communication people look more at right side the face of the interlocutor, whose facial expressions are more expressive. Dogs are the only type of pet that does the same.

book on the topic

The book “My Dog Loves Jazz” was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen International Gold Medal – and for good reason. Amazing stories Marina Moskvina, in which the ordinary, familiar world is constantly turned upside down, is liked by both children and adults.

What are the benefits of oxytocin? It is produced in the hypothalamus and plays important role in regulation various reactions and forms of behavior. Helps form attachment, recognize faces, regulates maternal instincts. It is known that dogs are often used for the rehabilitation of patients (including in psychotherapy): they help reduce anxiety and emotional stress. Treatment with dogs is called canistherapy. Many scientists attribute its effectiveness to the production of the hormone oxytocin.

For details, see M. Nagasawa et al. "Oxytocin-gaze positive loop and the coevolution of human-dog bonds", Science , 2015.

Dogs, unlike cats, are more open in expressing their emotions. Of course, if a dog greets you home from work, barks joyfully, wags its tail and literally sweeps you off your feet, it’s easy to guess that it’s happy to see you. Sometimes the signs that a dog gives us are obvious, and sometimes they are subtle. Let's tell you how a dog confesses his love to us.

1. Looks you in the eyes

Duke University neurologist Brian Hare, founder of the Center for the Study of Canine Behavior and Cognition, believes that when a dog looks its owner in the eyes, it is hugging him with its eyes.

When a dog looks at you during play or communication, the level of oxytocin, a hormone responsible for feelings of love and affection, increases in its blood. It is oxytocin that creates a strong bond between mothers and newborns.

But if you start looking your dog closely in the eyes, he will most likely look away and become embarrassed. So don’t drill your dog’s eyes, just maintain a natural eye contact.

2. Yawns after you

Yawning is contagious. But not only between people. Dogs, over thousands of years of living side by side with humans, have learned to read our behavior, and therefore they yawn when the one they love yawns.

It is known that people begin to yawn when they see a person yawning due to their ability to empathize. But whether dogs are capable of empathy is impossible to determine. However, it is very likely that the dog will repeat the yawn of the person to whom it is attached.

Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods from Duke University conducted a study that included 25 dogs. The dogs watched their owners and strangers yawn. 54% of dogs yawned after people, and much more often after their owners than after strangers.

3. Leans against you

Dogs can lean against their owner different situations, for example, when they are worried or want us to do something or take them somewhere. But even if the dog leans against you out of pure anxiety, it means that he sees you as a reliable protector and trusts you.

4. Cuddles with you after eating

Do you have a cat? Find out that your cat loves you.

What goes on in a dog's head when he sits staring at his owner with a long, unblinking gaze? Is the animal trying to master telekinesis or transmitting information through the power of thought? Perhaps the dog is trying to tell its owner how much he is attached to him? Anyway its big Brown eyes can look at a person indefinitely.

For some, such curiosity may seem irritating factor, but for most people this phenomenon does not carry a negative message. And now scientists have probably found the answer to our question. The Scientific American dubbed this phenomenon with the pithy phrase “looking through time.” Dogs use all these seconds and minutes to read information from their owner’s face.

Experiment Conducted with Horses

The experiment, conducted by staff at the University of Sussex, involved horses. The animal, watching a herd of relatives turning the corner, was confused at the moment when a lone horse passed towards it. But as soon as the scientists repeated the experiment, no confusion arose in the experimental subject’s head. Everything is familiar: the herd goes around the corner, a lone horse comes towards.

How does this work for dogs?

This experience can be applied to dogs. It turns out that our pets try to look at us for so long in order to catch a familiar intonation in the voice or facial expression.
Thus our four-legged friends“read” human behavior, which allows them to understand us better.

Japanese researchers report that when people and their best four-legged friends look into each other's eyes, biological mechanism, strengthening the bond between dog and human.

As it turned out, when a person and a dog maintain visual contact, the level of oxytocin (a hormone) increases in the body of both the owner and the pet.

“People who call their dogs members of the family are absolutely right,” commented Dr. Greg Nelson of the Veterinary Association in Valley Stream, New York, commenting on the discovery. “The dog is not just a sociable animal that accepts food from its owner. You could say “that the relationship between a person and a dog is either equal or like that of parents and children.”

Through a series of experiments, researchers have shown that communication between a dog and a person causes a “loop biological connection”, since biochemical reactions take place in the bodies of both humans and animals.

“Humans have evolved to use specific communication tools,” says one of the study’s authors, veterinarian Takefumi Kikusui. “Gaze can serve as physical touch and hugs. The fact is that dogs can use communicative gaze towards people too.” .

Japanese researchers asked 30 friends and colleagues to bring their pets to the laboratory. In the first experiment, dogs and their owners interacted for 30 minutes. In the urine of those couples who spent most this time, looking into each other's eyes, more high concentrations oxytocin (in dogs - by 130%, in people - by 300%). Couples who were prohibited from looking into each other's eyes for long periods of time did not show such an increase in hormone levels. Owners who made eye contact with their pets were more likely to touch, pet, and talk to them.

In a second experiment, the researchers sprayed oxytocin into the nostrils of 27 dogs and let them into a room with their owners and two strangers. As a result, the bitches spent more time looking at their owners, who also had increased oxytocin levels. Males made eye contact with their owner less often, perhaps because in males, oxytocin often increases hostility towards other members of the group. By the way, previous studies have shown that.

(photo by Jonathan Millard/Flickr).

However, when the first experiment was carried out with the participation of tamed wolves and their owners, scientists did not notice any changes in the biochemistry of humans and animals. This is probably because wolves perceive direct eye contact as a threat and avoid human gaze.

The findings suggest that eye contact between dog and owner as a form of social communication most likely began. This strengthened the connection between the two species.

"Dogs have co-evolved with humans as companions over the last 12,000 years," says veterinarian Adam Malcolm. "So the physiological feedback based on the oxytocin cycle is not surprising."

In fact, these results are consistent with many previous studies that have shown that our four-legged friends .

Kikusui also said that while wolves do not stimulate oxytocin production in their owners, some other species do promote the hormone in humans, such as cats. Scientists believe that this information can be used as evidence of the effectiveness of canistherapy, which helps people undergoing medical and social rehabilitation with the help of animals.

Inspired by this research, the magazine staff even launched a promotion: now anyone can send a photo of their pet to [email protected] or post it on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #upwardfacingdog. The photo should be taken from approximately human height and show a pet looking into the lens. The magazine's specialists (and, of course, dog owners) will select the best shots. Winners will receive a copy of the (fake) magazine cover featuring their pet's face.