A new study confirms that love is chemically apparent between dogs and their owners. Researchers found that owners whose dogs stared at them the longest had the highest levels of oxytocin, known as the "love hormone." The oxytocin levels of owners and dogs were also correlated. They repeated the same process with wolves raised by humans but found no effect on oxytocin levels. The study suggests that dogs have developed a mutually beneficial ability to bond with humans in the same way parents bond with their children by evoking feelings of social reward and caretaking behavior.
