Why do dogs 'love' humans? Answer may be oxytocin hormone

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- We know why we love our dogs, but why do dogs love us? A new study suggests the answer could be what some call the "love hormone."

Blame it on the oxytocin - a hormone produced by all mammals, including canines. It's linked to bonding, social recognition and maternal behavior.

Australian researchers studied 75 dogs over a year. They gave half of the dogs a nasal spray of oxytocin and the other half a simple saline spray. They then tested the dogs' ability to complete simple tasks.

They found that the dogs given oxytocin performed better.

The researchers concluded that over the course of domestication, something happened within dogs' brains that allowed them to understand human social cues.

Because both humans and dogs usually produce more oxytocin as they interact, the presence of the hormone indicates that dogs evolved into being the perfect human companion because that chemical bond allowed them to better "read" human commands.