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Give your dog some extra rubs when you get home from work today, because they really did miss you . . . and they might be emotional about it.
A new study in Japan found that dogs' eyes well up with TEARS OF JOY when they're reunited with their owners.
They used a test to measure how watery 18 different dogs' eyes were before and after they saw their owners. The owners had been away for a full seven hours.
As soon as they saw them, their tear production increased by 10%. And it ONLY happened with their owners. It didn't happen with other people the dogs knew.
The researchers think that seeing us causes our dogs to produce more of the "love hormone" oxytocin, and that's what makes them cry. So it's more proof that your dog really does love you.
They only looked at tears of joy. They didn't test to see if dogs also cry when they experience negative emotions like sadness.
Source: CNN / Current Biology