-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email "Inside the Mind of a Dog" delivers on the promises in its title, both stated and implied. The movie is packed with adorable dogs of every conceivable breed; it puts readers inside the mind of humanity's best friend; and — to address a question it poses at the very end — it lets us know whether or not dogs truly love humans. "There are things that people can do with their dogs to improve their relationships.
" "There is a lot of what we call convergence between dogs and humans," Dr. Vanessa Woods, the director of the Puppy Kindergarten at Duke University, told Salon. Woods, who is featured in the documentary, mentioned that humans will often notice a dog staring at them quietly and not understand what it means.
Woods explained that this relates to the fact that dogs and humans both rely on eye contact when they are young to connect with their parents. Even as adults, humans and dogs still experience a rush of oxytocin — the so-called "love hormone" — when they make sustained eye contact with other individuals they care about. In a very real sense, they are hugging humans with their eyes.
Related How owning an Instagram-famous pet changes your politics "Basically they've hijacked this oxytocin loop," Woods said. "When your dog stares at you and you stare back at your dog, it increases your oxytocin and it increases their oxytocin. Basically they've taken over this neurological loop that we developed between our children and oursel.