Human–canine bond

Human–canine bonding is the relationship between dogs and humans. This relationship can be traced back to at least 15,000 years ago, to the Bonn-Oberkassel dog, who was found buried alongside two humans. For centuries, dogs have been considered man's best friend. This is most evident in western countries, such as the United States, where over 48% of households have a pet dog. The human-canine relationship is not necessarily always a positive one; dogs can be viewed in an extremely negative light depending on the region. On average, females tend to have more positive attitudes toward dogs as opposed to males, and studies have demonstrated that both dogs and humans release oxytocin while spending time together. This release of oxytocin is correlated with the formation of a strong social bond. Canines are capable of discriminating between positive and negative human facial expressions and will react accordingly. Dogs appear in religions all over the world, particularly in Mesoamerican folklore and myth, signifying the deep reverence humans all over the world and throughout history have for them. Psychologists believe that the relationship between human and canine is a bidirectional attachment bond, which resembles that of the typical human caretaker/infant relationship, and shows all of the usual hallmarks of a typical bond. Some examples of behaviors that led scientists to this conclusion is the display of proximity seeking behavior where the canine will seek out its caretaker as a means to cope with stress, and consequently the absence of the caretaker will trigger separation anxiety to a varying degree. Another such behavior is the safe haven effect, which describes when the canine more freely explores novel objects in the caretaker's presence. Canines are capable of assessing humans' emotional states, as well as discriminating humans by levels of familiarity. Studies have demonstrated that shelter dogs benefit from interacting with complete strangers. These interactions result in a reduction in plasma cortisol, which is correlated to an overall reduction in stress.