10 Bonding activities for a dog and their owner

 Want to spend some more time with your cute pup this summer? Here are some great ideas to get some more time in with your dog, and create a strong and loving bond. 

Here is an excerpt from an online article about the human canine bond. 

No one disputes the clear bond dogs have with us and there have been many studies that explore this attachment. Some researchers reason that it has to do with the dog’s cognitive abilities, but others believe it has less to do with intelligence and more to do with friendliness and sociability. Some researchers have used the term “hypersociability” to describe this trait in canines.

Gregory Berns, a neuroscientist at Emory University, used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to follow what goes on in a dog’s brain during interactions with humans. He found that a dog’s reward center is as active when the dog is praised as when they’re given a hot dog. And we all know how much dogs love hot dogs! In additional research, Dr. Berns demonstrated that some dogs even prefer their owners to food if they’re given the choice. He also found a similarity between the part of a dog’s brain that lights up when they hear their owner’s voice and the same area in our brains that lights up when we’re around someone or something we love.

Dr. Clive Wynne, a psychologist at Arizona State University, is a proponent of the emotions-over-cognitive-ability school of thought. In his book “Dog is Love: Why and How Your Dog Loves You,” he makes the argument that a dog has the ability to connect emotionally with other species. He calls it “interspecies love” and thinks that at some point in their evolution, dogs experienced genetic changes that made them friendly toward other species.

You can read the whole article at this link here: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/lifestyle/is-the-dog-human-bond-unique/

Isn’t it great to know that dogs love us so much? And from this article, we learn that dogs love food and love being praised. They also “light up” when they hear our voice. So I used this knowledge as the basis for this post.

1. Cuddle your dog with a movie and feed them plain popcorn 

2. Play fetch 

3. Teach them tricks (with treat rewards) 

4. Let them sleep in bed with you 

5. Buy some doggie safe paints (don’t use ANY materials that are not canine-certified) and make a paw print painting 

6. Craft them a dog bed or homemade dog toys 

7. Sketch your pets’ portrait 

8. Have a dance party 

9. Throw them a dog birthday party, a play date, or a gotcha-day party 

10. Tell them you love them 

I hope you and your dog have lots of fun this summer!