Admit it. It has always been a love-hate relationship between you and your pup. It doesn’t really matter if your dog is a lovely schnauzer like ours, a corgi, a husky, a golden, or even Hagrid’s Fluffy, there are always moments where your lil’ pup friends would have driven you nuts and you are just really on the edge of sending them off your house forever.

You then tried to teach them a lesson.

“Look at me. Tell me what have you done wrong?!” you shouted.

“Roof…”

But once they shot you that innocent look, your heart melted, you gave up, and you just walked straight to your cabinet trying to find them some snacks.

“I was so mean. I’ve been too harsh on my poor pup,” so you reflected on yourself.

“Duh, got him, loser,” and your pup smirked.

So human and dogs have been friends since some thousands of years ago, and they have been our best companions ever since. However, have you ever wondered how this relationship is formed?

So what they said has been proven true…I have just caught you smiling like an idiot looking at the cuties up there! This happens all the time, eh?

You may have just gotten home from work and you had a bad day, and thinking about the assignments you’d need to hand in the next day makes you anxious and sad. But when you have stepped in your house and are welcomed by your lovely pup friend, you suddenly feel relief and at ease. Everything is possible again!

Oxytocin, sometimes known as the “cuddle hormone” or the “love hormone”, is a hormone secreted by the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland, that pea-sized structure at the base of your brain.

While the hormone is often associated with childbirth and the bond between a mother and an infant (well male secretes oxytocin too), you may be surprise that you’d also get an oxytocin surge after cuddling and playing with, or even by just making eye contact with your dog!

Several studies have found that interesting relationship between oxytocin secretion and how you’ve built your friendship with your lil’ puppy. While another study published by Azabu University has also found the relationship to be mutual.

Having your pup to gaze at you for a longer time will cause a higher oxytocin level to be measured in your urine; this then results in a closer dog versus owner bond, and the oxytocin level in your dog may increase too.

It has also been found that the mechanism existed only between human and dog, as a result of the long history of the domestication of dog. A wolf will probably be jumping on you trying to kill you shall you kept a long gaze with him.

You only exist as a threat to him. He won’t have that motherly love for you, child.

02 | Because They are Your Fluffy Little Friends

You’ve probably heard of Harry Harlow’s Contact Comfort study in your Psychology 101 class during your college years. As much as the artificial cloth mother may soothe the feeling of the young rhesus monkeys, researches have shown that, the fluffy sensation you feel while petting your dog may also be related to human’s fondness to dogs.

The warm physical contact you get while cuddling your dog triggers the sense of security, and it can be very comforting to your emotion too.

If you’re feeling down today, just give a big hug to your puppy. And don’t forget that he loves you too.

03 | And Ohana Means Family

With time, he is no longer just the pet of the family. He becomes a playmate, a friend, a son, a sibling – he is now part of the family.

According to the researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, the dog owners also plays an important role in their dogs’ life – they are the secure base of the lil’ pup friends. And this connection between a puppy and his owner is very much similar to how it looks like between parents and their children.

He is loved on a daily basis, taken care of when he fell sick, forgiven when he did something silly. You smiled at him, and you cried for him. Because Ohana means family!

In a Nutshell

It has taken almost 15,000 of years of evolution and companionship that we and our puppies have become friends.

We may all love our puppies for different reasons and the love might be explained in many different ways. But we are all grateful that we have found this lil’ mate in our life, don’t we?