This is an interesting study. It’s about dogs but I believe that it could just as well be about dogs and cats. Or indeed many other companion animals. In earlier studies the researchers found that the smell of a stressed person can subconsciously affect the state of mind of people nearby (emotional contagion). This in turn affects their decision-making.
It’s quite important I think to recognise that human stress can be ‘contagious’ and negatively affect our beloved companion animals.
Do Stressed People Give Off a Particular Smell?
Yes, there is some evidence to suggest that stressed people can give off a distinct odor.
When we experience stress, our bodies undergo physiological changes. One of these changes is increased sweating. This sweat, produced by apocrine glands, is different from the sweat that cools us down. It’s thicker and contains more proteins and fatty acids. When bacteria on the skin come into contact with this sweat, it can create a stronger, more noticeable odor.
Studies have shown:
- Stress sweat has a distinct odor: Researchers have identified a specific odor associated with stress sweat, different from the smell of sweat produced during exercise.
- Stress sweat influences perception: People exposed to the smell of stress sweat were more likely to perceive neutral facial expressions as angry.
Note: while stress can contribute to body odor, other factors like diet, hygiene, and underlying medical conditions also play a role.
So, people who are stressed, smell different, in a very subtle sense, to people who are in a calm state of mind. And we know how sensitive dogs are to odours. And indeed cats. Their life revolves around the smells they pick up in the air around them.
EARLIER ARTICLE: Dogs pick up human stress through their sweat and breath
Testing a dog’s state of mind
In this study they figured out a way of testing whether a dog was in an optimistic or pessimistic state of mind. They achieved this by providing 18 pairs of pet dogs with food in a bowl. The researchers first trained the dogs to understand that in one location the food bowl would contain food and in another it wouldn’t. They then placed food bowls in intermediate positions meaning a location between those that contained food and those that didn’t contain food. The dogs therefore would be uncertain whether the food bowls contained food. If they were optimistic they would try and see whether they contained food and if they were in a pessimistic mood they wouldn’t bother.
Stressed and calm people
They then presented the dogs with people who are stressed and those who were in a calm state of mind. They stressed people by asking them to do a maths test 😎. Calm people listened to calming music. The dogs picked up the odours emitted from these people.
Results
The research discovered that “the smell of stress made the dog slower to approach the ambiguous bowl location.” The quote comes from The Times newspaper of Tuesday, July 23, 2024. The source for this article. Thanks.
The researcher as the University of Bristol veterinary school said that “These findings suggest that the stress smell may have increased the dogs’ expectations that this new location contained no food, similar to the nearby empty bowl location.”
In other words the dog became more pessimistic when surrounded by the stress smell emanating from a stressed human.
Ramifications
The information gathered by this study may be important in understanding how human stress affects dogs’ well-being. It’s an important consideration when training dogs and is an important consideration when trying to enhance the welfare and well-being of dogs.
Body language
And I must touch again on cats. Cats I’m sure will have the same mood change under these circumstances. But cats and dogs can also pick up on the body language of their caregiver. There appeat to be two factors here: body language and body odour. It’s incumbent upon caregivers to ensure that they are not stressed and that their body language signals that they are not stressed! Quite a difficult task sometimes.
RELATED: How good is a cat’s sense of smell?
