Dogs Fill Unique Social Role Between Child and Friend

Ever wonder why your dog feels like both your best buddy and your baby? Scientists have just discovered something cool about our relationship with dogs!

A new study published in Scientific Reports shows that the way we bond with our dogs is super special – it’s like a mix between how we feel about our friends and our kids.

Scientists asked over 700 dog owners about their relationships with their dogs, friends, family members, romantic partners, and children. They wanted to find out exactly what makes the dog-human bond unique.

“The owner-dog relationship exhibits characteristics of both child and best friend relationships, combining the positive aspects of the parent-child bond with the minimal negative interactions of close friendships,” the researchers explained.

What’s really interesting is that people reported feeling happier with their dogs than with almost any human in their lives (except their children). Dogs scored really high in being good companions, giving owners someone to take care of, and being reliable – all while causing way fewer problems than most humans do!

The scientists found something surprising, too. People who have great relationships with humans also tend to have great relationships with their dogs. This means people aren’t getting dogs because they can’t connect with humans – dogs are actually adding to already good social lives.

“In our sample, people did not seem to use dogs to compensate for the insufficient support in their human relationships,” explained co-author Dorottya Ujfalussy.

One big difference between dog relationships and human ones? Power. With your friends and family, relationships are usually pretty equal. But with dogs, humans make most of the decisions and have almost complete control – and this might be why people feel so satisfied with their dog relationships.

“The power asymmetry, having control over a living being, is a fundamental aspect of dog ownership for many,” notes senior author Enikő Kubinyi, Head of the Department of Ethology at ELTE.

People without kids tended to rate their connection with their dogs higher in companionship and affection compared to dog owners who have children. This suggests dogs might partially fill a child-like role for some people.

So the next time someone teases you for treating your dog like a human, you can tell them science actually supports that your dog is somewhere between a best friend and a child in your social circle!

And that’s pretty awesome for both you and your furry friend!

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