Love, Actually
HOW A TINY PEPTIDE DRIVES OUR PASSION FOR DOGS
BY CHRIS ZINK DVM PHD DACVP DACVSMR CCRT CVSMT CVA
O xytocin. Most of us think of it as the hormone that helps bitches whelp and produce milk. And yes, it’s that, but oxy- tocin is so much more. A series of recent studies have revealed how oxytocin has a major effect on the brains of people and dogs to strengthen the human-canine bond—that indescribable interspe- cies attachment that might just explain why you’re reading this. Oxytocin is a peptide hormone that is secreted into the blood from the pituitary, a pea-sized structure at the base of the brain, although it also can be made in many other cells of the body. Its size—just 9 amino acids long—truly belies its important role in how people and dogs respond to the world around them. Oxytocin plays an important role in human communication. When a mother gazes at her infant, attachment begins to develop. You may be familiar with imprinting, in which an orphan baby duck becomes attached to a human and begins to follow the person around. Human attachment is a more sophisticated version of this phenomenon and is the basis of interpersonal relationships. Oxytocin plays other roles in humans as well—it’s called the “love hormone” for a reason. Oxytocin makes you feel good when you’re with someone you love by stimulating the reward center in your brain, and it also reduces stress. When you listen to calming music or sing in a choir, for example, your brain tells the pituitary to release oxytocin into the blood. This slows your heart rate and lowers your blood pressure. “Oxytocin makes you feel good when you’re with someone you love by stimulating the reward center in your brain, and it also reduces stress.”
102 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, FEBRUARY 2024
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