Stress and Your Dog

If you notice that your dog seems stressed, use it as a reminder to take a deep breath and try to reduce your stress levels before engaging with your pup—particularly before a training session. We can all use less stress in our lives!

How long are dogs affected by a human’s stress? 

The study didn’t test how long dogs are affected by a human’s stress—simply whether they were immediately affected by smelling a jar with the scent of human stress. Each dog would smell the jar for 20 seconds before being released into the room with three bowls. “We know that a short exposure was enough to influence their response,” Dr. Parr-Cortes says, “but we don’t know how long these effects might last.”

It’s worth noting that in this study, the stress samples came from strangers—not the dogs’ owners. Separate studies published in Scientific Reports have found that popular herding dog breeds mirror the long-term stress levels of their owners and that long-term stress in dogs is related to the human-canine relationship and owners’ personality traits.

How can you help your dog feel less stressed?

A couple important ways we can help decrease dog anxiety and stress are by using only positive training methods, which involve rewards instead of punishment, and training our pets when we’re feeling calm, according to Dr. Parr-Cortes. In fact, she says the study is a reminder of how close dogs and humans have become; our moods affect one another. She’s personally witnessed it in her relationship with her dog, Darwin, a retired racing greyhound.

“It’s quite fascinating that, as species, we’ve become this close. I think it’s just important to appreciate that emotional intelligence—that dogs seem to have both negative and positive emotions,” she says. “So, I think the main takeaway is to be considerate and compassionate about your dog’s emotions, avoid negative punishment and increase your positive, fun interactions. Go do something fun with your dog, and it’ll make you both feel better.”

Try taking a long walk with your pup, visiting a local pet store to pick out a toy or treat, engaging in a proper play session or even giving your dog a puzzle toy to figure out while you engage in some R&R.

Do dogs smell other emotions?

Since we know dogs can smell stress, it’s natural to wonder, Can dogs smell emotions? Sure enough, dogs can smell emotions like anger, happiness and fear, and their behavior will change in response. This intuitive species can take cues from scent and other clues like our body language, facial expressions and vocal tones. Empathy may also be at play; another recent study published in Animal Behaviour found dogs became stressed listening to recordings of humans crying.

Dr. Parr-Cortes hopes to expand on her research in the future. “I think moving forward, it would be interesting to test things like happiness odors or really deep-relaxation human odors on this cognitive bias test and see if that has a positive effect on their mood,” she says.

As a former therapy-dog handler, I spent five years visiting hospital patients with my Labrador retriever mix, Rio. My loving, loyal dog seemed to intuitively know when to calmly lay his chin on a patient’s knee when they were feeling sad and when to wiggle with excitement to meet a happy child—whatever would offer the most comfort in any situation. So even as science continues to expand our knowledge of dogs, there’s something special about the power of the human-canine bond that I’m not sure can be quantified.

Ultimately, what dogs want is often what we want: to be happy together. Can dogs smell stress and be negatively affected by it? Yes. Does spending time with dogs decrease our stress? Of course (and science proves it)! So do yourself and your dog a favor and spend as much time as you can unwinding from daily stress by exercising, playing and relaxing together,” says Dr. Parr-Cortes.

Did you know that Alaska Dog Works trains service, therapy and K9 buddies? We offer a FREE Discovery Call. Schedule yours today.

So, what do you think? Did you learn anything new about your K9 buddy?

Before we end the show, let’s press pause for a sec…maybe ask yourself, why did this resonate with me? What aspect of my relationship with my K9 buddy could I apply this to? And what am I going to do differently this week to make my dog’s training a little easier? So, take time to mull it over, talk it out with a family member or trusted friend, put some ideas down in your training journal, and then check back next week for our next episode.

And, as always, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this episode. So, reach out over on X at firstpawmedia, and let’s spark a conversation. Until then, keep going! You are doing great! It is time to create the relationship with your dog that you always dreamed of.

Thanks for listening to Dog Works Radio. Find the show notes for this episode and all others at Alaska dog works (dot)com. Know someone in your life who needs help with their dog’s training? Be a hero and share our podcast with them, and we will see you next time.

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At Dog Works Radio, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by a team with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts.

For this piece on whether dogs can smell stress, Michele Forto tapped her experience as a longtime dog trainer, podcaster, and a dog owner. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies on our website, Alaska Dog Works.com