Dogs can detect human stress through chemical signals

Researchers at Queen's University Belfast have conducted a study investigating whether dogs can detect chemical signals associated with human stress. The study, published in PLOS ONE, involved collecting breath and sweat samples from 36 participants in both a resting state and after a mental arithmetic exercise designed to induce stress.

Four trained dogs were tasked with identifying the stress-induced samples under double-blind conditions. The research suggests that dogs may be able to sense physiological changes through scent, such as shifts in breath and perspiration, even when a human's facial expressions or body language remain neutral.