Celebrity animal psychologist explains why the bond with our dogs is so strong

Mark Vette is best-known for training the ‘Bugger’ dog for the iconic TV commercial, and for his work teaching dogs to drive cars and fly planes,
Celebrity animal psychologist Mark Vette says there’s good reason dog owners feel so connected to their precious pups – because the love between us isn’t just perceived, it’s real.
Vette, who is best-known for training the ‘Bugger’ dog for the iconic TV commercial, and for his work teaching dogs to drive cars and fly planes, says the hormonal bond created between humans and their dogs is “about the same level as towards our children and family”.
“When I was doing [animal] behaviour at university, there was a stigma about [assigning] human emotions to dogs and other animals,” he told Newstalk ZB’s Real Life with John Cowan on Sunday night.
“But as we’ve got deeper into the science of dogs and other species, we know that they do have the same feelings that we have. Maybe not exactly the same, but they’re mammals and they’ve got all the same basic neurological and neurochemical basis to their emotions …
“We’re now starting to realise they’re much closer to us in that sense than we even begin to think.”
Vette says that means when we’re staring deeply into our pooch’s eyes and they’re looking lovingly back at us, it’s not just some pack instinct that’s been hijacked – it’s really love.
“We now know from the research that … the oxytocin [love hormone] is about the same level as we have towards our children and our family members, and the dogs have the same level of oxytocin back,” he told Cowan.
“[Oxytocin] is probably what we qualify as the main measure of what we call love. And they’re highly social species, so that attachment relationship is very similar.
“Not only do those hormones stimulate that love or companionship response we have, it has incredibly valuable effects on our health as well. And then there’s the dopamine and the various other neurochemicals that are stimulated, and the attachment that we have.
“And therefore the relationship that we have is very akin to our [human] relationships. They’re surrogate kids, really, in many ways.”
Vette says humans have shared friendships with dogs and wolves for tens of thousands of years, which helps explain the natural connection we share with them to this day.
“We think it could be as long as 40,000 years that they have co-evolved with us. When you think about that, it’s a pretty amazing collaboration,” he told Real Life.
“When we were hunter-gatherers, it actually saved us from extinction, because they were a very successful predator at the time in Eurasia, and we were a faltering predator. But we gathered forces and managed to work out a way in a world that was pretty ferocious, with giant hyenas and sabre-toothed tigers.
Vette says dogs are still very much wolf-based in terms of their physiology, but we’ve selected them for friendliness.
“And they’ve selected us and gathered around us and became our companions. And then over the last 200 years, we’ve selected them into 400 different breeds.”
Elsewhere in the wide-ranging interview, Vette talks about his career, his deeply held Buddhist beliefs, and what dogs have taught him about life.
Real Life is a weekly interview show where John Cowan speaks with prominent guests about their life, upbringing, and the way they see the world. Tune in Sundays from 7.30pm on Newstalk ZB or listen to the latest full interview here.