Picture used for illustrative purpose only.

Gulf Today Report

It is perhaps the best welcome a human being could ever get. The reception that a dog gives to the family members when they return home has to be seen to be believed.

The speed with which it runs to greet the owner of the house when he or she is at the gate or the door of the house just cannot be described; the tail wagging picks up pace; the whining is one of pleasure not pain.

In short, there are ‘happy tears’ on its face when it sees the owner coming home, a new study has found.

The study, published in the journal Current Biology, found that dogs shed tears when they are extremely happy, but the experts have not discovered what happens when negative feelings grip the dogs.

The study was conducted by lead author Professor Takefumi Kikusui, who was inspired to start the research when his poodle had puppies six years ago and he noticed the poodle had tears in her eyes after giving birth.

“That gave me the idea that oxytocin might increase tears,” Kikusui explained, adding that while dogs’ eyes produce tears, they don’t fall in the same ways as humans.

The researcher from Azabu University in Japan also discovered that dogs had more tears in their eyes when reunited with their owners, according to the Independent.

During the study the researchers also added oxytocin to the dogs’ eyes which caused them to fill up with tears, supporting the theory that higher levels of oxytocin – often known as the “love hormone” – are present when a dog sees its owner.

 “We had never heard of the discovery that animals shed tears in joyful situations, such as reuniting with their owners, and we were all excited that this would be a world first,” Kikusui said.

The research team are now looking into whether dogs “cry” when they are reunited with their canine friends.