(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Julia Meyers-Manor, Ripon College and Emily Sanford, Johns Hopkins University

(THE CONVERSATION) From Lassie to Balto, pop culture loves stories of a dog coming to a person’s rescue. Anecdotally, people experience their dogs coming to their aid every day, like when one of us found herself “trapped” by her children under a pile of pillows only to be “rescued” by her noble collie, Athos.

But is there any scientific evidence behind these sorts of tales?

Researchers know that dogs resp...