If your dog is one of those breeds specifically designed for close interaction with humans, it’s also taking cues from your personality as to whether it should be stressed-out or not.

Wolf-life breeds, on the other hand, are indifferent to your suffering.

By measuring cortisol levels in the hair of dogs and their owners, researchers at Sweden’s Linkoping University found that the an owner’s personality had a significant impact on their dogs’ stress levels. The more stressed-out the owner, the more stressed-out the dog, and vice versa.

Interestingly, this only applied to dog breeds specifically bred for close human interactions, such as hunting dogs. So-called ancient breeds – dogs that still share a close genetic link to wolves – are not impacted by their owners’ personalities. So if you’re raising a wolf, don’t sweat it – the wolf doesn’t care whether you’re stressed or not.

“We believe that the synchronization of stress is a consequence of breeding the herding dogs for collaboration with people,” said Lina Roth, a member of the research team.

The same team found similar results with herding dogs in a previous study, adding ammunition to the idea that the more closely a dog is groomed for human interaction, the more they literally take on their owners’ personalities right down to their levels of anxiety and stress.

So step 1 is to come to terms with your personality and emotional setting (you can do it here, and it’s fast and free). Then learn to relax. If not for you, do it for your dog!