There are so many lovely aspects to having a dog in our lives. They are actual family members whom we adore, and we expend considerable effort to ensure that they live the happiest life imaginable. They also do the same for us.
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On December 6, the PetLab Co. TikTok account promoted a study that reveals dogs actively strive to improve our lives by making us laugh. Here's what you need to know.
Veronika Konok's paper, titled “Emotional communication between dogs and humans,” was published at the Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Science in Budapest, Hungary.
What did the study conclude?
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“The study concludes that dogs and humans interpret social information similarly, showing a stronger response to more positive sounds such as laughter,” according to a video posted on TikTok. “This suggests that your dog actively works to bring laughter into your life, so the next time your dog makes you smile, remember it's no accident.”
How else do dogs behave towards their human owners?
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The same paper highlighted further research that discovered intriguing links between a child's development and having a pet.
“Generally, growing up with pets has a beneficial effect on children's non-verbal communication (Guttmann et al., 1983),” the authors of the study wrote.
The study suggests that this link may explain why dogs are such effective support and treatment resources.
“Dogs' ability to develop a complex communication system with humans makes these animals particularly suitable to facilitate social interactions and communication in humans (Cirulli et al., 2011),” according to the study. “This may explain the popularity of dogs in animal-assisted therapies.”
What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments.
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