title: Physiological effects of human/companion animal bonding.
abstract: Blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate were recorded in 24 subjects during 3 9-minute measurement sessions in which they petted an unknown dog, petted a dog with whom a companion bond had been established, or read quietly. Based on the findings of this study, several conclusions were drawn: (1) There is a significant difference in changes over time in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure between petting a dog with whom a companion bond has been established and petting a dog with whom no bond exists; (2) the decreases in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure that occur during petting a dog with whom a companion bond has been established parallel the relaxation effect of quiet reading; and (3) there is a " greeting response" to the entry of a dog with whom a companion bond has been established, which results in significantly higher systolic and diastolic pressures than the response either to an unknown dog or to reading.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D001841:Human-Animal Bond; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009735:Nursing Homes; D009769:Object Attachment; D011932:Reading; D012119:Respiration; D014110:Touch