The Moral Molecule

I'm happy to see a psychology article on dogs! I really love canines and, although I had thought many times previously why dogs are so cute, I had never connected this with oxytocin or any neuropsychological explanation, whatsoever. Very good article!

This was a great article. I pamper my dog, Brody a one year old yorkie, but I don't go as far as dressing him up and taking him EVERYWHERE. Although, he loves the car rides so much I do take him anywhere I go quickly that has a drive thru. I do see the connection with oxytocin. You even said it yourself, there's nothing like coming home to your dog who is just so excited to see you. That is honestly the best part of my day. Especially when I've had such a hectic day at work. When I get home, I hear Brody barking before I even get out of my car and as soon as I open the front door he's jumping up and down, licking me, and hauling off to get his teddy bear and bring it to my bed where he knows I'll sit and play with him. I honestly doubt that'd I'd be able to afford thousands of dollars to keep him going, but if I had the money I would make sure he lives as long and as happy a life as possible.

I recently made the big move from Canada to Australia. When I was in Canada I had 2 dogs and 2 cats. People thought I was crazy when I told them that I was bringing all of them with me. I did everything to bring them all with me but unfortunately my one dog Bart died suddenly of old age and one cat Pickles decided to disappear. I did bring my mini dachshund Winnie and my cat Sam with me all the way to Australia. It was an expensive adventure for the pets but worth every cent and I don't know what I would do without them. Winnie is a real ice breaker when meeting new people especially because there are not many "sausage" dogs here in Australia.

I love my pets and don't know what I would do if they wern't with me.

Thank you for explaining the mutual attachment between dogs and people in an accepting way. I believe that I learned to love from my first dog.

The question of how much to spend on a dog's health is one I've grappled with. We adopted our third dog, Toby, knowing he had diabetes and might be expensive. In the five high-quality-of-life years we gave him, we spent enough to put a kid through community college. In those five years, I'm sure thousands of perfectly healthy dogs were euthanized.

We called Toby our very expensive hobby -- it was cheaper than smoking or doing drugs, at least.

But Paul, you look at moral and economic choices on the societal level. How should we make this kind of choice? Wouldn't it be better to adopt a healthy shelter dog instead, and then give the money we save to the food bank instead? And, when a pet gets really sick or old, forgo the hip replacement or chemotherapy and give the money to the shelter?

It's as easy to love a healthy dog as a sick one.

I agree whole-heartedly with your article. I run an online shop that caters to pampered pooches. I have found that 50% of my clients are the women that have put off pro-creating for career reasons (Like you said) and surprisingly, the other 50% are the baby boomers whose kids have flown the nest. Our pets fill a need, a need to be a caretaker, to have that unconditional devotion, etc, etc. I completely understand the oxytocin. We recently moved across the US and were feeling blue from the drastic move. We got a new dog, and immediately were uplifted. I'm sure a lot of that also has to do with walking him daily. There is a lot to be said for the power of walking to combat the blues. I look at my baby and wonder how he could possibly be a descendant of the wolf. That is until recently when my cat tried to lick his dog bone. The wolf showed its colors ;)
Luxury Dogs

$13,000 was the final vet bill for my dog. My dead dog. No insurance. I did everything I could to keep him alive, but this is one instance where all the money I had (on credit) wasn't going to help.

I have two new dogs now, Brody, a female Pembroke Welsh Corgi, and Jonah, a male Pembroke Welsh Corgi. They both have health insurance so we don't have to go through that again.

Anthropomorphization runs deep in my house. My dogs are furry children, where only the best will do. I don't have children of the two-legged variety, nor do I have a husband or boyfriend. All my time, attention, and affection is given to my darling Brody and Jonah. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

In addition to the above, I need to add - my one year old boy Jonah came to me with hip dysplasia and luxating patellas, which insurance will not cover. For six months I was spending almost $1,000/month on physio for him before I had to stop. I know though, in the future, he will need a new hip to the tune of $6-10,000, which will not be covered by insurance.

Susan's comments on forgoing hip replacement and chemo and instead giving to the shelter are interesting. I would rather put that money, that I worked for, and can choose to spend however I want, into my own dog. While I deeply admire those who adopt shelter dogs, I will always be a "purebred snob" and insist on purebred dogs from ethical breeders. And no, I don't have alot of money. I work an average job, taking home an average wage. I have a mortgage, car payments, and credit card debt. But - I choose to spend my income on my pets. As one who suffers from severe depression, they've saved my life. More than once I've been ready to take my life, only to decide I can't leave my dogs behind. It's a trade-off, but I seem to always be on the winning side of things.

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Patricia

http://largepet.info

Tippy 1/2 airedale, 1/2 Scottish Deerhound..Smutty-English Greyhound. Henrietta, 1/2 Chow-1/2 German Shepherd, J.J. Cale-small mutt.....whom I picked up on a busy highway in Pilar, New Mexico.
These 4 dogs went with me through the most horrible divorce that you can imagine. I was very suicidal afterwards and living in another state....they saved my life one day. They were with me when my parents died. Tippy had adopted my mother (had 5 strokes) and he slept outside my bedroom for the first time in his life..he supervised her care and slept behind her hospital bed. During the night I would hear her shift around in the bed and Tippy would wag his tail. My mom could not talk but I would hear her say "Tippy" and he would wag tail to let her know he was on the job. They would both go back to sleep.
Tippy affected the mental health of all in my family. You can't keep from feeling good when you see a "dog" doing something so thoughtful and kind.

The answer was always a decisive NO when I asked to get a puppy while young and under my parent's roof. Okay, it was their house. But at age 38, I stopped and asked myself WHY am I living by this old script in my head and researched different breeds and months later brought home a 71/2 week old yello Lab we named Sully, short for Sullivan. My life was enriched beyond words and, according to your acticle, the oxytocin was flowing freely at our household.
Fast forward to me in my 50s and Sully still with us. Btw, they changed the ratio of dog to human years to 5.5 to 1 instead of the old 7 to 1 b/c of advanced medicine for dogs.
We went through the gamut of adequan shots, treadmill hydro therapy, and later, massage therapy. And of course many different arthritis medications. Sully had cataracts, laryngeal paralysis and advanced arthritis.
At our humane society, I learned in a lecture that the hardest thing ever to do is to know when to "let the dog go" and not keep our dear pet alive for us, if the dog has lost its quality of life.
At 14 y/o the sophisticated animal care center wanted to do a $3,000 MRI on him and potentially, surgery. It was time for me to say NO. Enough.
At 15 1/2 yrs. old at 8 p.m. one night, I knew it was time. I just looked at him and saw the suffering that had gone on too intensely for days in spite of treatment. We took him to the animal care center and he peacefully slipped away, grabbing one more treat minutes before. It was so difficult, but it was right. Now I have a young dog again and it was kismet that he came to me 4 months after Sully had left us. It's for each of us to decide how much and when to say that's enough.
That all. Thanks for reading if you got this far

It has to be something really wrong with people who invest so much, emotionally and economically, in animals. Is it because they are socially empty? socially handicapped? or because is a lot easier and practical to have a pet (to get a dosage of oxytocin) instead of helping a real children --or elderly relative-- in need? I just don't get it!

BTW, coming home and greeting and been greeted by a real human child is by far even more rewarding; and believe me, there are tons on these available.

G. J.

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"Huum, perhaps you're seeing a pattern: delayed reproduction has moved the nurturing oxytocin system to seek an infant-substitute as a target."

This is a little bit offensive. Why is it hard to believe that one simply would rather have a pet than a kid? I happen to think being welcomed by a dog would be infinitely better than being greeted by a moody tween, preteen or teenager. A dog is pretty much always happy to see you. Some people simply don't want children, you don't need to psycho-analyze-mumbo-jumbo that decision.

I utterly fail to see the logic in this article - petting and caring for a cat or a dog causes a release of bonding hormone in humans, therefore pets are child substitutes? That *might* make sense if exposure to babies always results in the release of oxytocin. It doesn't.

Obviously if the author had said that since a release of oxytocin happens during sex, our pets are substitute sex, he'd be flayed alive and everyone would see that there's simply no real connection.

Look, just because there may be a chemical reaction within us due to some stimuli, or that we see similarities in things (humans and pets being alike is simply due to the fact that we are all animals) does not mean any far-fetched pseudo-scientific ostensibly evolutionary-psychological extrapolation/comparison is, in fact, legitimate.

Some of us just happen to like our pets because of what they are, not because of something they are replacing.

I get the hormone release thing, but I think people project a lot onto their pets and idealize them/their love. On the surface, it looks as though folks just want to take care of something, but the unconscious material that people play out with their pets is just wacky. We love the idea that we "rescue" pets. It makes us feel powerful & good - gives us an ego-boost. We see animals as helpless and fragile without us humans around to protect and take care of them. We call them our babies and identify ourselves as their parents. I wonder, do animals really care if they get the lifesaving operation or not? Probably not. Somehow, I don't think they care how long they live. They most likely do not fear death the way humans do.

I also think that people who are obsessed with animals may be just plain needy (it's also much easier to be in a relationship with a dog than with a human - human relationships are hard and messy). Do dogs really love us or do we simply feel loved in their presence? I'm thinking that they probably enjoy us at times, but maybe no more or no less than anything else in their lives. Do we mistake their dependency for true and special love? Dogs and cats are nice (fur is nice to pet and all), but I don't need to be their saviors and I can meet most of my emotional needs on my own.

I came from Brazil and there is an 1980's song that says "exchange your dog for a hungry child". The song is very clever but is not so popular because even though we racionally know that a human child in need is more precious than a dog nobody wants to let one's dog away. So it is a kind of moral paradox: do we really care for poor children when we do not want to sacrifice our relationship with a dog?! I'm a dog-person by the way.