🧠 BEHAVIOR

The science behind "puppy eyes"

Have you ever fallen victim to those irresistible puppy eyes that dogs have mastered to seduce their owners?

Whether it's for a treat, a toy, or simply attention, it's hard to ignore such a cute face.

Moreover, some dogs just seem so expressive with their faces that you feel like you could have a conversation with them without saying a word.

If that makes it harder for you to stay consistent and stick with your training, you can thank the past generations for it.

Those facial expressions are not a result of natural evolution, they are actually an important part of how we breed dogs.

Let me elaborate on that.

We, as humans, have many mimetic muscles in our faces. 👩

These are used to form facial expressions and without them, you would never be able to smile, cry or display anger.

They are essential to have in today's society and now we know that dogs have them too.

This study focused on the number of myosin fibers (key components of muscle cells) in facial muscles in dogs compared to wolves.

The more fast-twitch fibers someone has, the better they can express themselves.

Results: Dogs have a higher proportion of fast-twitch fibers compared to wolves that have more slow-twitch fibers.

This means that dogs can display a greater variety of facial expressions and they can move each muscle faster.

Coming back to the puppy eyes, dogs have an additional mimic muscle that lets them create this effect, unlike wolves that lack this facial feature.

During the domestication process, humans selected the dogs based on how effectively they communicated with them.

It's also theorized that some were chosen simply because their facial expressions were similar to our own.

Over time, dogs developed fast muscles to better communicate with us and to benefit the relationship.

💊 HEALTH

Dog on dog attacks

Dog fights are seriously traumatic events for everyone involved and it's nothing one ever wants to experience.

They can have long-lasting financial and emotional effects on both the owner and the dog so we want to avoid them as best as possible.

Luckily there seem to be some risk factors that you can use to minimize the likelihood.

A recent study from Australia sheds some light on the subject and found that some dogs are more likely to get involved in a dog fight than others.

They checked 459 records from four different emergency veterinary hospitals and dog attacks accounted for only 2.5 percent. 🏥

It's uplifting to hear that about 92% of dogs survived their injuries compared to the 46% survival rate of cats.

Now, let's get to the risk factors of this study:

• age
• pure-bred vs cross-bred
• neutered vs non neutered
• living environment

Dogs between the age of two and seven were less likely to be attacked.

Neutered dogs presented more often at the emergency vet than non neutered dogs.

However, I could not find evidence in the study that they accounted for the larger population of neutered dogs in this result.

Similarly, the relation between pure-bred and cross-bred dogs is also hard to gauge but in this study, the crossbreeds drew the bad card.

Dogs in high socio-economic areas were more likely to be attacked by an unknown dog, while pets in low socio-economic areas were more likely to be attacked at home.

To summarize this:

The average dog in a dog fight might be cross-bred, neutered, under 2 or above 7 years old, and lives in a low socio-economic area.

About 80% of dog fights in neighborhoods could be prevented if dogs were securely confined to their yards.

If you want to learn more about how to stop a dog attack, as well as how to handle the aftermath, click here as I wrote a whole article just about this.

💡 DID YOU KNOW?

Sleep noises

While I am writing this newsletter, my Rottweiler is happily snoring away the events of today accompanied by the occasional whine.

You have probably heard your dog crying or whining in his sleep multiple times before.

Some also growl, bark, or nearly scream during their naps, and sometimes it can sound quite concerning.

I am here to assure you that there is most likely nothing to worry about and your dog is simply dreaming.

Science suggests that dogs have similar sleep stages to ours with alternating REM and NREM sleep.

Their brain activity implies that they too experience some degree of dreaming.

Whimpering, crying, and even growling are quite normal when there is a peak in brain activity. 😴

Although it may sound violent or uncomfortable it doesn’t necessarily mean that your dog is having a nightmare.

Even if it’s a scary dream the activity should go uninterrupted because dreaming contributes to healthy mental activity.

Whining is also very common and normal in puppies, especially in the first few weeks.

In rare cases, dogs might cry from having a seizure or other medical condition.

While the type of whimpering can’t help you distinguish dreaming from seizures, the intensity of twitching can.

Kicking and paddling legs in seizing dogs are a lot more rigid and stiffer and with that, the movements appear a lot more violent.

If you catch your dog "running" in his sleep, he most likely relives daily activities.

No one knows what dogs exactly dream about so you can make your own guesses regarding your dog's sleep behavior.