Here’s looking at you … just why are dogs our BFFs?

We dog lovers already know how strong the bond is between us and our dogs.

Recently, researchers in Japan reckoned they'd found out why dogs are our best friends.

Their research shows that when we gaze into our dog’s eyes we experience a rise in oxytocin — and so do they.

Popularly referred to as the ‘love hormone’, oxytocin is known to be associated with creating the feel-good factor that, for example, helps bond a parent and child.

New Scientist have created the charming video below explaining it all for the layman.

If you're interested in the science behind it, head to the journal Science for a report with the less-than-friendly sounding title of ‘Oxtyocin-gaze positive loop and the coevolution of human-dog bond’.

But be aware that not everyone agrees the release of oxytocin played a role in the domestication of the dog. Clive Wynne, a psychologist at Arizona State University isn't so convinced by this study, although he is in no doubt about the bonds between dogs and humans:

'I think the best evidence that any dog lover has that their dog loves them is what the dog does when it's around them. We're entitled to trust the evidence of our own senses.'