Research: We can seriously stress out our dogs. Even make them ill.

Web Posted: 12/22/2006 06:42 PM CST

San Antonio Express-News

A new study sheds light on the impact stress has on our pets. Researchers have learned that highly competitive men with high testosterone levels seem to stress out their dogs more than the average Joe.

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin studied how high testosterone levels in men affect behavior toward their dogs, most notably after a competitive event.

Robert Josephs, associate professor of psychology, and Amanda Jones, a graduate student, studied 184 dog agility teams to observe how a male dog owner's motivation to win affected his testosterone levels. They also considered how those hormone levels influenced the man's behavior toward his dog after the competition and what happened to the dog's stress level as a result.

The researchers conducted saliva tests before and after the agility competitions to establish the men's testosterone levels. The researchers discovered that men highly motivated to win had higher levels of testosterone before the competition. If their team then performed poorly in the competition, they were more likely to be punitive toward their dogs afterward.

These men often withdrew affection and eye contact as well as yelled, and in some cases, even hit their dogs.

Men with lower levels of testosterone before the competition whose dog teams performed poorly - they instead petted and praised their dogs, regardless of their performance.

Not surprisingly, high testosterone combined with a win meant lavish praise for the dog.

Jones was surprised, however, to see so many men respond unkindly to their dogs after not winning a competition.

"I expected their behaviors to be more repressed," she says. "But the handlers with higher testosterone levels didn't hesitate to express their frustration."


So what happened to the reprimanded dogs?

They showed an alarming rise in the stress hormone cortisol, a neurotoxic substance that can lead to destruction of cells in the brain, leading to memory deficits.

"Chronically elevated cortisol levels also weaken the immune system," says Josephs. "These consequences might be especially critical for dogs in high stress jobs in which memory and health are critical, such as bomb-sniffing, police and guide dog environments."

But these consequences can also be detrimental to your family pet. It demonstrates that even the withdrawal of affection or verbal abuse from someone can have a significant impact on the dog's internal stress levels.

While there is research demonstrating how changes in an individual's behavior toward another individual of the same species, this is the first research that examines these effects across the species boundary.
To guard against chronically elevated levels of cortisol in dogs, the researchers suggest that people who are at risk for reacting negatively in stressful situations try to avoid stressful situations or attempt to consciously regulate their own behavior during stressful periods.

They also suggest learning how to provide emotional support for your dog by playing with or petting them — a lesson that can be applied to the human species as well.

Josephs speculates these findings may provide insight into parent-child relationships. "Sometimes parents such as Little League dads or cheerleader moms invest heavily in the competitive performance of their children," says Josephs. "It is important for parents to enjoy themselves and to not take a child's performance too seriously."

Or a dog's performance, either. Pet owners need to be aware of how their stress and behaviors, even subtle behaviors, affect the stress levels of their pets.

And you were wondering why the cat is always under the bed.

Send your pet stories to Cathy Rosenthal, c/o Features Department, San Antonio Express-News, P.O. Box 2171, San Antonio, TX 78297-2171, or cathy@petpundit.com. Cathy's advice column runs Sundays.

Read Rosenthal's Animals Matter blog

San Antonio Express-News publish date Dec. 23, 2006
Online at: http://www.mysanantonio.com/salife/pets/stories/MYSA122406.2P.rosenthal.eb521a.html