Dog Owners Find Joy in Pets Exceeds Relationships With Partners and Kids

• EXPLORE FURTHER: Having a canine companion might bring you the same joy as earning an additional £70,000 annually.

Many canine caretakers would say that their pup holds an important place within the family.

However, a recent study has shown just how robust the bond between pet owners and their animals truly is.

Based on research conducted by scholars from Eötvós Loránd University in Hungary , owners find their connection with their pets to be more fulfilling compared to their relationships with their friends, partners, and even their own children.

In this research, the group polled 700 dog owners regarding their connections with their pets as well as their interactions with friends and family.

The findings indicated that pet owners believe their dogs love them more than any other person and serve as their primary source of companionship.

Furthermore, these relationships experience less conflict when compared to their other connections.

Based on the findings, the experts say that owner-dog relationships could be best interpreted as a mix of child and best friend relationships.

'The results highlight that dogs occupy a unique place in our social world—offering the emotional closeness of a child, the ease of a best friend, and the predictability of a relationship shaped by human control—revealing why our bonds with them are often so deeply fulfilling,' senior author Enikő Kubinyi said.

Humans have expansive social networks which consist of different partners who offer varying forms of support.

For instance, romantic partners bring about closeness and support, whereas children present chances for fostering relationships and ensuring emotional safety.

In the meantime, close friendships provide relationships with minimal conflict and companionship.

The group requested 700 dog owners to evaluate both their dogs and four people – their child, romantic partner, nearest relation, and dearest friend – based on 13 aspects of relationships.

Analysis showed that owners rated their bond with their dog as the most satisfying and ranked their pet pooch as the best source of companionship.

The owners mentioned feeling as though their dogs had the strongest affection for them compared to all other relationships.

Similar to children, dogs scored high in nurturing and relationship security and, like best friends, had low levels of antagonism and conflict with their owners.

However, there is also a greater power imbalance toward the owner in the relationship with dogs than with any human partner.

'Unlike in human relationships, dog owners maintain full control over their dogs as they make most of the decisions, contributing to the high satisfaction owners report,' Professor Kubinyi said.

When compared to humans, our bond with dogs entails fewer disputes and less adverse behavior.

The imbalance of power, holding authority over a living creature, is a key element of dog ownership for numerous people.

The team found that owner-dog relationships could be best interpreted as a mix of child and best friend relationships, combining the positive aspects of the child relationship with the lack of negative aspects of friendship.

The study also revealed that people with robust social connections tended to form deeper bonds with their dogs.

This suggests that dogs compliment human relationships rather than compensating for their deficiencies, they explained.

"We anticipated that individuals with poor social connections would depend more heavily on their dogs for support, yet our findings challenge this expectation," stated co-author Dorottya Ujfalussy.

'In our sample, people did not seem to use dogs to compensate for the insufficient support in their human relationships.'

The findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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