When People Like Their Dogs Better Than Other People

Note from Con Slobodchikoff: This is a guest post by Randall Johnson, who has contributed several essays to this blog, as well as a number of comments. For more information about Randall Johnson, see his post on June 8, 2008.

I’m crazy about all three of my dogs. I admit it without apology or embarrassment.  I like them for the same reasons most people give for liking dogs: their loyalty, companionship, and uncritical acceptance.  We enjoy a nice camaraderie with frequent shows of mutual affection and we respect each other’s dignity. When one of them wanders out of sight and doesn’t come running back when I call, I feel the same momentary panic I get when the same thing happens with my four-year-old son.

We have a strong bond and our relationship is important to me. Judging by the enthusiastic reception I get every time I come back from running an errand, I believe it’s important to them, too.

The relationship between humans and dogs goes back tens of thousands of years and the human-dog bond has been extensively chronicled, starting with prehistoric cave drawings showing dogs joining hunting parties. Recently, science has been taking a closer look at the nature of the bond and the benefits that come from having a companion animal. According to Delta Society, pet owners generally have lower blood pressure, better psychological well-being, and fewer minor health problems. Various studies involving Ainsworth’s strange situation procedure suggest that the dog-human relationship is a genuine attachment bond, similar to that between a parent and human infant.

All in all, we have the picture of a sound, healthy relationship that often helps us weather the “slings and arrows” life sometimes casts in our direction. When people let us down, we can always count on Fido for sympathy and reassurance. (In my case, Goldie, Suzie, and Aladar.)

But what about those people who find their pets’ company more gratifying than that of other people, folks whose closest relationship is with Fido or Puff or Birdie? Researchers are taking a closer look at these kinds of relationship, too, and they are more common than you might think.

"There are whole segments of the population that prefer being in the company of dogs than people, and I'm not sure that's such a negative thing," said Joel Gavriele-Gold, a psychoanalyst in private practice in Manhattan and the author of "When Pets Come Between Partners."

In a 1990 study conducted by researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University, one-third of the participants were found to have had closer relationships with their dogs than with their family members, as shown by scores on psychological tests.

In another study, reported in the April issue of the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Dr. Lawrence Kurdek, a psychologist at Wright State University in Ohio, found that students who were most strongly attached to their dogs did not show high levels of anxiety or avoidance — characteristics that some therapists would expect to see in people with unusually strong bonds to animals.  As Dr. Kurdek wrote, the finding supports the idea that "people strongly attached to their pet dogs do not turn to pet dogs as substitutes for failed interactions with humans."

To Dr. Gavriele-Gold, the intensity of the relationship between people and their pets is unsurprising. "Humans tend to be very disappointing — notice our divorce rate," Dr. Gavriele-Gold observed. "Dogs are not hurtful and humans are. People are inconsistent and dogs are fairly consistent."

It’s not uncommon, either, for people who were betrayed or wounded in childhood to turn to a cat or dog for the love and support they didn’t receive at home. "If you grew up in an atmosphere where you were abused, you're not going to have a high regard for people," he said.

Then, there are those among us who carry things to the extreme. A web site in England, www.marryyourpet.com, features testimonials from pet owner who claim their relationships with their dogs or cats are primary. (I haven’t found the courage yet to check it out myself.) And Dr. Marc Bekoff, professor emeritus at the University of Colorado, author, and animal behavior researcher, was recently startled at a meeting by a woman who kept referring to her “significant other”. It turned out she was talking about her beagle.

Fortunately, it seems most of us are able to have emotional satisfying relationships with other humans and companion animals without contemplating cross-species marriages.

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Dog owners can revel in the fact that research studies report a link between dog ownership and reduced stress and improved health for their human companions. There's nothing like the loyalty and unconditional love of a dog to balance the fast-paced, high tech nature of life today. Whatever you have to deal with, when you come home and your dog rushes to greet you with his tail wagging, the troubles of the day melt away.

Pet Human Bond