PETS: Your best friend really loves you
They are cute, playful, fun and loving, aren’t they? Of course we are talking
about pets. To give you an idea, according to data from the Brazilian Institute
of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), there are currently more pets than
children in Brazilian households.
A study carried out at the Emory University, in the United States, suggested
that pets love their owners and see them as part of the family. Another study
from the institution used MRI scanning to monitor some dogs’ brains and
concluded that scents allow dogs to identify this reciprocity in brain activity.
The tests showed that dogs can distinguish scents and immediately recognize
their owners and other familiar pets by the smell. In other words, the familiar
scent of their owners activates the dogs’ brains, and the feeling of happiness
and reward are activated as well,” explains the veterinarian Luana Sartori.
It has been proven that the bond formed between a dog and its owner may be
very similar to the one shared between a baby and his or her parents. “This
explains why puppies jump up on the owner’s lap when they get scared or
when they are frightened,” adds the expert.
And did you know that every experience that a puppy’s had by the time it is six
months old will be extremely important for its development? A puppy’s brain is
so receptive that these actions influence everything that will be lived after.
Pets are really attached to their guardians, aren’t they? “That is why dog and
cat owners must interact with their pets, taking them for walks, playing with
them and having fun with them,” suggests Luana