Table 2.

Overview of the treatment conditions and pre- and post- treatment samples collected for the dog and owner.

Category	Condition	Owner’s Dog	Owner	Dog Sample	Owner Sample
Social Conditions	Owner cuddle	Is being cuddled by their owner	Is cuddling their own dog	yes	yes
	Familiar cuddle	Is being cuddled by the familiar person	Is quietly sitting in the room	yes	no
	Owner cuddle other dog	Dog-subject is absent, another ‘stooge/familiar’ dog takes its place	Is cuddling a familiar dog	no	yes
Non-social Conditions	Owner fake dog	Is present but not given attention to	Is cuddling a fake dog	yes	yes
	Familiar fake dog	Is present but not given attention to	Is quietly sitting in the room	yes	no
	Owner mechanical cuddle	Is being stroked by the artificial hand held by the owner. No social interaction.	Is stroking (but no other social interaction) own dog using an artificial hand	yes	yes