02/16/2026
Ever notice you feel calmer during stressful situations if your pet is with you? There's science behind that!
We're excited to share new research out of our Human-Animal Bond Lab (HAB Lab) examining whether dogs provide a unique form of support during stress - and the results reveal some interesting patterns.
🧠 What we did:
We synthesized results from 30 studies that tested over 2,000 people's stress responses across different social conditions (dog present, alone, with another person, or with an inanimate object).
🔎What we found:
People showed smaller increases in heart rate and perceived stress with a dog present compared to other conditions. However, dogs had no differential effect on blood pressure or cortisol responses.
💡 Why it matters:
Having a dog present was more effective at buffering stress than having another person present - possibly due to dogs' nonjudgmental nature. This suggests dogs offer a different type of social support than people do.
📊 Led by PI Kerri Rodriguez, with contributions from Molly Delzio, Adelaide Ruekgauer, and UA Libraries.
🔎 Read the full study here: https://doi.org/10.1080/08927936.2026.2621532
