New research investigates whether work-related rumination can increase stress levels in dogs.

Work-related stress is something that many of us experience from time to time. Whether it’s caused by high workload, lack of resources or job uncertainty, this stress doesn’t just affect people whilst they’re working, it can also follow them home. The impact work-related stress can have on a person’s family has been well-documented, but researchers at Virginia Tech recently asked a new question: does it also affect their dogs?

Previous research has revealed that dogs have a unique ability to understand our actions and emotions. However, recent studies have gone even further, suggesting that dogs are not only able to pick up on the odours associated with human stress, but also mirror the effects in their own bodies. For this reason, researchers predicted that the dogs of people with high stress jobs would also be more stressed.

Do stressed owners make stressed dogs?

To test this prediction, the study included 85 employed dog owners who completed an online survey which measured their level of job stress, work-related rumination, home-related stress and their dog’s stress. Dog stress was also captured by asking owners how often they performed behaviours related to stress, such as lip licking.

The results revealed that jobs with higher levels of stress were associated with more behavioural indicators of stress in dogs, but not related to their owners’ perceptions of dog stress. The relationship was mediated by work-related rumination, where owners who spent more time ruminating about work during their leisure time had dogs who exhibited more stress-related behaviours.

Recognising stress in dogs

The lack of relationship between owners’ job stress and perceived dog stress levels suggests that many owners may be unwittingly increasing their dog’s stress levels without realising it. A plausible explanation for this is that owners are not aware of the subtle signs dogs give when they are stressed, such as yawning which may be misinterpreted.

Dog stress behaviours include:

Overall, the findings of this study act as a reminder to be conscious of the feelings of stress in our own body’s, not just for our sake, but also our pets’. Techniques to manage and reduce stress, such as mindfulness and meditation, should be considered by people with high-stress jobs to reduce the spillover effects to their dogs. This may be especially important for individuals who work from home, but more research is needed into this topic.

Key study findings:

• Dogs whose owners had high stress jobs showed more behavioural signs of stress
• The relationship was explained through work-related rumination
• No relationship was observed between the owners’ perceived level of dog stress
• Owners may miss subtle signs of stress in dogs