Research suggests that the specific warmth of a dog sleeping against your body activates the same oxytocin pathways as skin-to-skin contact with a partner, which is why people who sleep with their dog report feeling held even when they technically sleep alone - Silicon Canals

"The warmth of a dog pressed against your body appears to activate some of the same neurochemical pathways that fire during intimate human contact. Which means that for the growing number of people who sleep alone, a dog on the bed may be doing more than keeping them company."

"What makes the human-dog relationship unusual is that the oxytocin system appears to work in both directions. Research on the bond between dogs and their owners has revealed what scientists describe as an oxytocin-mediated strong social bond, one that evolved over thousands of years of close association."

"Studies indicate that when dogs and humans gaze at each other, oxytocin levels rise in both species. This is a feedback loop that appears to mirror bonding mechanisms between parents and infants. That loop doesn't shut off at bedtime. If anything, the conditions of sleep amplify it: sustained physical contact, reduced stimulation, rhythmic breathing, warmth."

Physical contact with dogs during sleep triggers oxytocin release in both species, creating a bidirectional bonding mechanism that evolved over thousands of years. Oxytocin, a neurotransmitter crucial for social bonding and safety perception, increases when dogs and humans gaze at each other, mirroring parent-infant bonding patterns. Sleep conditions—sustained physical contact, reduced stimulation, rhythmic breathing, and warmth—amplify this oxytocin loop. For people sleeping alone, having a dog in bed provides neurochemical benefits that extend beyond companionship, activating the same social and bonding pathways engaged during intimate human contact.

Read at Silicon Canals