Dogs are known to be faithful animals to their "masters," but the relationship between pet and owner is much deeper, like a child needs a parent.
In a new study by scientists at the University of Veterinary Medicine said bond between dogs and their owners and have found striking similarities to the parent-child relationship in humans. Their research is published in the journal PLOS ONE.
According to the study, the bond between humans and dogs is the called "secure base effect." The same bond is found in humans, as infants use their caregivers as a secure base when it comes to interacting with the environment, Science Daily reported.
Lisa Horn from the Vetmeduni's Messerli Research Institute also studied the behavior of dogs and their owners. Horn examined the dogs' reactions under three different conditions: "absent owner," "silent owner" and "encouraging owner."
According to Science Daily, the dogs earned a food reward "by manipulating interactive dog toys." Horn observed the dogs were less likely to work for food when owners were not there.
"One of the things that really surprised us is, that adult dogs behave towards their caregivers like human children do," Horn told Science Daily. "It will be really interesting to try to find out how this behavior evolved in the dogs with direct comparisons."
The next part of Horn's research was to test the affects of a stranger on a dog. Horn and her research team observed that dogs were less likely to interact with strangers and were not interested in earning food. The researchers believed that the owner's presence is important for the dog's motivation.
Science Daily reported that the "study provides the first evidence for the similarity between the 'secure base effect' found in dog-owner and child-caregiver relationships." The published research will reportedly lead to more comparative studies on dogs and children.
