How to raise oxytocin and improve mental health in only 5 minutes a day: Petting other people’s dogs

[Psychiatry professor Nancy] Gee says evidence is accumulating that levels of the stress hormone cortisol drop in people after just 5 to 20 minutes spent interacting with dogs — even if it’s not their pet. “Also, we see increases in oxytocin, that feel-good kind of bonding hormone,” she says.

And it’s not just humans that benefit from these brief exchanges. “What I love about this research is that it’s a two-way street,” Gee says. “We see the same thing in the dogs, so the dogs’ oxytocin also increases when they interact with a human.”

“Pets are not a panacea,” Gee says. “They’re not necessarily going to be great for every single person. But for people who really get it, who really connect with the animals, they really can make a big difference,” Gee says.

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For example, there’s some evidence that brief bouts of puppy love may help us think better. Gee collaborated on a randomized controlled trial of 8 and 9-year-old school children in the U.K. She and her colleagues found that kids who had twice-weekly, short exchanges with dogs in the classroom had less stress and improved executive functioning – the cognitive processes that allow us to do things like plan, stay on task and block out distractions. And she says those benefits lingered.

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