Canine Tears of Joy

Dog lovers have known this from the start: Canine emotions are no joke. And now we know that dogs can even shed real tears.

In an article published last week in Current Biology, Japanese researchers reported a connection between positive emotions and dog tears. The study is the first to examine the relationship between animal emotions and tear volume, and Takefumi Kikusui, a professor at Azabu University in Sagamihara, Japan, said he was inspired after watching his standard poodle grow teary-eyed as she nursed her puppies.

Kikusui and his team measured tear levels by placing a paper strip inside the eyelids of dogs for the minute before and after they were reunited with their owners. The researchers compared the amount of tears after reunions with the dogs' owners and also after reunions with people with whom the dogs were familiar; they found that only the owner reunions led to increased tear production.

While the study opens doors to new considerations of animal emotions, much work remains -- including tests to see whether dogs cry in response to negative emotions, as humans do, and whether their tears play a social function.

"We found that dogs shed tears associated with positive emotions," Kikusui said. "We also made the discovery of oxytocin as a possible mechanism underlying it." Oxytocin is a hormone recently dubbed "the love hormone" or "the love drug" by Harvard researchers studying the connection of oxytocin with maternal tendencies.

As a hopeful conclusion to this month's canine tear volume study, Kikusui said his results suggest that humans may take better care of dogs who cry. When the team showed 74 people images of dogs' faces with and without tears, people responded more positively when they saw tears in the dogs' eyes.

In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands. (Hebrews 1:10)

What other miracles do we neglect to see? What other studies have yet to be conducted? Above all, how can we adopt a posture of curiosity this week, thankful for God's creations and peering into the complexities we may have overlooked?

Blessings on your week,

Jennie