Our little white Maltese was thrilled when we got home after a full day out. Bitsy jumped up to greet us with a wiggle of her tail, a drenching face-licking and several hardy welcoming back barks.

I actually got a bit teary eyed from the emotional reunion.

Unconditional love. All the time.

But as she pulled on our heartstrings, I looked at her and wondered, wait, did we pull on hers? Is Bitsy not just happy but overwhelmed to see us? Is Bitsy getting weepy?

Are those tears coming down from those warm doggy eyes? 

Is our dog crying? Crying out of happiness?

Maybe.

A new study found that canines may be genuinely thrilled when they see their human companions after a long period of absence.

Japanese researchers said that dogs produce more tears when reunited with their owners compared to when they reunite with familiar humans who are not their owners.

The study, based on the behavior of 22 dogs, challenges the long-held notion that humans are the only creatures that are capable of producing tears as an emotional response.

Researchers looked at the reactions of dogs who were reunited with their owners and with other people they knew.

Using what’s known as the Schirmer tear test (not to be confused with the Schmear tear test to determine if a bagel has too much cream cheese) researchers measure the dogs’ tear volume before and after the reunions. The test is typically used to measure whether an animal or person is producing enough tears to keep their eyes moist.

Small pieces of filter paper are placed inside the lower eyelid. The paper absorbs the tears and then the volume is measured.

For the experiment, the tear volume was measured in the dog’s home environment with their owners present and again shortly after the dog and owner were reunited after being apart for five to seven hours.

To see whether the tears were linked to their emotions, the researchers applied a solution containing oxytocin, a key hormone involved in bonding, to the dogs.

After they used the hormone, they found the dogs’ tears significantly increased.

They discovered when the dogs saw their owners, it was the only time they shed tears. There was not the same level of increased tear production when the dogs were reunited with the people they were familiar with, but were not their owners.

While dogs are known to cry to keep their tear ducts clean, it has not been linked to their emotional response before.

“We had never heard of the discovery that animals shed tears in joyful situations, such as reuniting with their owners,” said Takefumi Kikusui, one of the authors of the study in the journal Current Biology.

The scientists also found owners felt more desire to care for their animals when they saw them with teary eyes.

“Their tears might play a role in the deepening of mutual relationships and further leading to interspecies bonding,” the researchers wrote.

Of course, not everyone in the science community is convinced. You always need a naysayer.

An associate professor of veterinary ophthalmology at Kansas State University said her skepticism stems from the way tear production fluctuates in individual animals and species.

Analyzing the composition of the tears for an emotional trigger, the professor wondered if those tears contain similar molecules to what’s been identified in people in certain studies and in trying to investigate why we cry.

But whether you believe the results of the new study or remain skeptical, there is one thing everyone can agree on: all dogs are goooood dogs.

So why not share a good cry with them?

Barry Lewis is a longtime journalist and author who lives with his wife Bonnie in the Town of Neversink. He can be reached at barrylewisscdemocrat@gmail.com.