How Puppy Dog Eyes Evolved to Match Humans | WIRED

Dogs are our companions, but they're also living proof of artificial selection. Dogs have coevolved and adapted to live in a human world. Dr. Sarah Byosiere, a dog cognition researcher, walks through canine behaviors that demonstrate our coevolution with dogs.
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[@Wired4Life2]

Human: **pets wolf** Wolf: “Disgusting...” ... Wolf: “Do it again.”

[@agricolaregs]

So you’re saying they started as cats.

[@nunyabiznes33]

Hands are one of our superpowers so yeah, just rub everything.

[@zitronentee]

That's basically a husky.

[@BBWahoo]

Women when you touch their vagine

[@Yeovelyn]

Tsundere wolf

[@BonBonWasHere111]

The emotional expression Huskies lack in eye musculature is counteracted by their expressive vocals. It all makes sense now. I’ll also add that most domesticated animals have eye contact. My guinea pig lovingly gazed at me all the time.

[@FatCatCooper]

I loved my guinea pig

[@foxibot]

Aww that’s so sweet that you said your Guinea pig lovingly gazes at you. I instantly got a cute picture in my head of this adorable little gunna pig looking at its beloved….human.

[@Wolfdawg504]

It's not really fair to fault humans for only understanding "6 types of barks" when most people understand 80-90% of dogs' body language, which itself is the primary way dogs/wolves communicate.

[@fredjones5698]

man ive seen some people that really don’t understand dogs body language. and have payed dearly for it

[@xantherxavier5429]

@@fredjones5698 Are you…victim blaming dog attack victims? “It’s your fault you got attacked for not being able to read its body language. The attack was completely avoidable had you just read its body language.” Of course the dog is just an animal so it’s not to blame either. The owner is responsible for properly training their dog to the fullest extent, and properly restraining it (I mean like keeping it on a leash) when in public. Especially if the breed has a natural proclivity for being easily provoked. So really, it’s the owners fault for being irresponsible. If they say it’s the victim’s fault because “they should’ve read the dog’s body language,” then they’re just callous and disgusting individuals. If that’s the excuse they wanna make, how come they, the *owners*, _who know their dogs better than anyone else_ couldn’t read their own dog’s body language and predict it was going to attack someone?

[@VEVOJavier]

The insecurity

[@leelambert8721]

@@xantherxavier5429 overanalyzing bro

[@brieb4317]

My dog was licking my neck for a while and then I got diagnosed with a thyroid disease (after lump on my neck appeared it all made sense). Guess she is a little puppy doctor 💅

[@user-jp4cj3ds7p]

....

[@brieb4317]

@@user-jp4cj3ds7p what is it betch

[@planefan082]

Dogs are so smart and sweet

[@01jbeals]

❤️

[@bigmama3372]

is it possible that the disease was caused by your dogs saliva in the first place?

[@katiaaskildt7830]

My dogs have 6 barks and they're distinct 1. Bathroom bark 2. Get me out of here bark (for when they're put in a seperate room) 3. There is people or other dogs outside 4. Let me in the house I'm done going potty. 5. Youre late with dinner again 6. Youre late going to bed again And i know what each bark means because its very distinct. My rescue dogs teach eachother how to interact with us.

[@bruhsoundeffect0]

This comment is so cute! UwU

[@lindsayjones5783]

Good observation

[@BBWahoo]

6. Bust a nut inside me humon bark

[@Tori_TLCR]

This is true. I also notice a difference in the growl my dog makes when he is playing and growl he makes when he is mad. Playing sounds more nasally. A serious growl is very deep.

[@MTNorville]

My dog perceives when I'm talking about her. I think she recognizes the words "she" and "her". She always behaves calmer, like she knows that she'll be called a good girl and get attention.

[@joshuahutchings558]

My dad says his dog does that! The dog is the only "she" in the household and she learned it's only used to refer to her! cool!

[@laurenpeng6071]

Side note, but she has the coolest glasses!

[@telegramsam]

yeah i kept staring at them trying to figure out wtf is going on with them... idk about cool but they're definitely different

[@emoaloe9441]

Thought the same!! I have no idea what to type in to try and find them though lol

[@remygaut3068]

Seem normal to me

[@emoaloe9441]

@@remygaut3068 There’s a wire going across the top above the lenses, just looked like a cool different kind of style 🤷‍♂️

[@eddenoy321]

The glasses are called rimless. It is always a signal that the wearer of such glasses won't even consider tossing anyone's salad.

[@SafeAndEffectiveTheySaid]

Those dogs' eyes are always asking for more, no matter how much food you have given to them.

[@Whaddif_]

4:34 Can we just mention how chill that dog is in the background

[@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavana]

Since humans interact with dogs so often, seemingly minor things can make a big difference. For example children can be afraid of dogs, but the cuter they look the less likely they are to be afraid, no matter how deadly the dog can be. So cuteness may be very helpful for dealing with human children.

[@sterling8298]

Both of my dogs understand English just fine. They also understand sign language as well as Spanish. I can even act a certain way and they know what's about to go down. Ie (food, walk, bath, etc).

[@melissaanthonyxb2730]

Multilingual dogs

[@petmindedcommunity8561]

This is such a great overview of the field of Dog Cognition!

[@user-sp5vh7ip1p]

thanks for watching and leaving a comment you have won Telegram me to claim your prize.......

[@nr655321]

My personal research concluded that 99.9 percent of dogs are gudbois.

[@planerxxl]

The only reason I want a decent income and place to live is to get a dog and offer him a happy life and give all my love

[@user-sp5vh7ip1p]

thanks for watching and leaving a comment you have won Telegram me to claim your prize.......

[@youllbemytourniquet]

Honestly same! I cannot wait until I am financially stable enough to be able to foster dogs

[@sadgrill9938]

What a very strange life goal...

[@Leppymusic]

I live alone with 2 dogs... Zero regrets... They are a part of your life but for them you are their whole lives.

[@leetaiming64]

can i be your dog

[@reconserra9997]

Human: No! Dog: What do you mean by "no" Mildred? Did you misunderstand my bark again?

[@whateverrandomnumber]

I think John Pilley and Chaser paved the way to prove dogs can differentiate two identical words with two different meanings depending on context, which kinda points to dogs understanding grammar. Stella and Bunny combine different words to come up with some pretty wild abstract concepts. I remember Stella said “help water outside” when the “beach” button went kaput - meaning she knows the meaning of every word she uses, and came up with a way to express the idea she wanted with the words that were available to her.

[@Dell-ol6hb]

God I love dogs so much they're such awesome animals

[@bubblezovlove7213]

I've actually started training my Transylvanian scent hound rescue OUT of waiting for help because she does it too much. She's very intelligent, I saw that on day one. So I've been giving her cardboard boxes with treats closed inside and lots of effort needed. At first she didn't want to do it. Then watching one of my other dogs get that treat was too much for her! Lol She can now do low effort box puzzles. Mainly because she could see she was missing out on food..... Training dogs is so rewarding....

[@DanSpotYT]

One of my dogs would love to cuddle with me when time to sleep. Was gentle but if he sensed danger he would definitely defend me. Labrador Retrievers are amazing - much as other breeds. RIP, Casey boy!

[@christopherwalker2228]

Dogs are outstanding.

[@storiesinthedust]

i absolutely love watching bunny and stella!! it is so fascinating to see them communicate, even if it they arent fully understanding what things mean. the more you watch them though, the more you can see that there is some level of comprehension, even if its just association, with what we are saying. not to mention i think id combust if i ever had my dog model "love you" to me on the buttons

[@desellis8117]

Weird. Wolf Biologist say wolves also communicate with facial cues. Wolves with a full, facial mask and eyebrow spots can Express facial cues more readily than wolves without a facial mask. They can show expressive eyes, but perhaps not as often as dogs.

[@halodude1171000]

I love that she calls them snacks instead of treats. I'm the only one i know that does that

[@MichaelJOneill333]

What a fascinating video! I see so many of these traits in my golden Murphy.

[@hrdgms27]

we are responsible for evolving them into " pets " so even the strays are our responsibility as well

[@Andrea-fd2bw]

The same goes for pidgeons then

[@03stmlax]

I have 2 dogs --- 1 understands pointing freakishly good --- the other cannot seem to get it. But the dog that seems to not understand pointing, also knows how to trick/strategize against my other dog in order to get a bone or treat he wants for himself. Point being, sometimes I think that particular dog is a dummy, while other times I feel like he'd be accepted into an Ivy League school

[@dondrap513]

"when Wendy here looks into my eyes..." *dog actively avoids eye contact and tries to wriggle out of grasp

[@v.4789]

Girl her glasses is stunning love it

[@brefranco2060]

I watch Bunny a lot, and it seems like by now there'd be enough evidence that she does understand the language she's using

[@adriawhite3754]

absolutely love watching bunny and stella!

[@alexandrat1586]

Great video. Love it!

[@erlan10]

Dr. Sarah Byosiere looks like an amazing person! What an awsome research field :)

[@Tori_TLCR]

The pointing is interesting. Mine even understands when I point with my foot or gesture with my head.

[@djayers]

Don't forget coevolution works both ways. Humans have been selectively bred by dogs.

[@drskelebone]

I wish this explained more about the pointing behavior. Is it an evolutionary "proto-dogs that understood pointing survived, and those that didn't died" thing, or some kind of "humans taught proto-dogs this, and selected for those that understood"?

[@user-sp5vh7ip1p]

thanks for watching and leaving a comment you have won Telegram me to claim your prize.......

[@scoville7707]

I think it’s a mixture of both, mostly because dogs are so observant. At some point during “caveman times” (so to speak), humans and wolves/dogs realized they could be very helpful to each other. Ever since then we’ve been unavoidably picking up on each other’s behavior and skills, especially when it’s helpful (e.g. WE notice a type of barking/growling when danger lurks nearby, their ability to hear sounds we can’t, smelling their way to something of interest, etc.). Those traits were all extremely helpful to early humans, obviously; and we helped to PROTECT them and teach them how to live more sensibly. Since the desire for survival is instinctual, I feel like they must have used their superior senses and supreme attentiveness to help us and to help us help themselves, and we likewise used our bigger brains. (I’m no expert; just a lover of dogs and History, like everyone else).

[@Naseem384]

What I find remarkable is how dogs can learn to pretend to do things, like in movies.

[@elisemiller13]

@Naseem The dogs in movies isn't, as you say, "pretending". They are simply following their trainer, offscreen, giving them commands for behaviors they were trained to do.

[@Juan-zi3qs]

5:17 we did something similar for our dogs wherein we’d tell them to wait by the open door while we were outside and when we looked away to grab the leash they ran out

[@wy4553]

The big curly boy made me smile every time he came on screen ♥

[@JordnD]

I think wild dogs do point, just with their nose instead of their paws. When a dog barks the other dogs will look at it's nose to see which way to look. so it probably wasn't to hard for dogs to understand that humans point with are hands.

[@luckyape]

primal food drive has many emergent behaviours that are easily anthropomorphized

[@lucbloom]

A factor might also be that, through successful living with dogs, humans adopted some traits as well. Like empathy towards other species for starters.

[@AsharKoase]

Um.. an empathetic predator would starve to death. I think your talking about pity or something.

[@timy.9512]

Wolf cubs, as Yuval Noah Harari did say, have "fair play" rules to them, and as adults will gladly die for their packs.

[@youllbemytourniquet]

@@AsharKoase maybe altruism is the term? since it's present in non-humans too

[@carteradams43]

@@AsharKoase well look at vegans for example

[@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavana]

@@AsharKoase Depends on the type of empathy. Learning to tolerate small annoyances is very useful at dealing with puppies, but has no real disadvantage. That's probably why we love banter and messing with our friends.

[@iamamanduh]

Andy is so adorable

[@nicolenicolette3203]

This is such a cool fact!

[@Imsexysryurnot]

Wolves also understand pointing. That is not a dog specific trait. And I appreciatethat it was just worded as speculation. The rest of this was really interesting, and I love her glasses.

[@XKathXgames]

They didn't say it was only dogs either, just that dogs outperform every other animal.

[@casensitive3695]

We all are evolving as species at different rates of time… crazy…

[@cooliipie]

Selective breeding*

[@Iamalivefornow]

7:35 I have a black lab named Sadie too

[@UNDERGODSPROTECTION]

So dogs have evolved to be human dependant. And it shows in their actions and demeanor.

[@Christopher._M]

Basically and one day they probably will speak our language

[@UNDERGODSPROTECTION]

@@Christopher._M Hopefully

[@AsharKoase]

@@Christopher._M yeah. It'll be just like Family Guy *sigh..

[@arah4ever]

I found that my german shepherd doesn't respond to commands very well if I'm wearing sunglasses, so eye contact is a factor even if I don't turn my back.

[@jacobzaranyika9334]

Interesting... I will watch this in full later.

[@margaretgoebel831]

Love this, especially love that my very smart, beautiful Lab Granddog Sadie is one of the featured dogs.

[@sadgrill9938]

Looks pretty hideous to me

[@babecat2000]

@@sadgrill9938 not as much as you

[@AsharKoase]

@@babecat2000 Idk, I see a flower. And dogs don't got nothing on flowers. Dogs are like, the opposite of flowers lol

[@rahulmandala4930]

Hey I think your lab looks beautiful! Just Ignore the people that love to act tough online!

[@rahulmandala4930]

@We Hate Dogs Fighting you online? That’s what you do in person. At least acknowledge what you’re typing. Make it make sense.

[@JCasR3]

Growing up in a Latino family. Our dog learned commands in Spanish and English

[@badcornflakes6374]

Awesome.

[@saul.t.2.969]

Good piece, glad to hear science has caught up to what we dog owners already knew. But, uhm the background of many of the indoor shots were awkward

[@nimayndolo]

“Your average layabout,” why did y’all have to do the puff dog like that 😂

[@aronc24]

I’ve always been a bit of a purest when it comes to dogs in that iall action is for purpose. But it’s great to know they do feel the love! 💕

[@sadgrill9938]

They dont feel love. They just see humans as a food source.

[@auaiao9]

@@sadgrill9938 Not true, troll.

[@skylarkesselring6075]

@@sadgrill9938 you could say the same about humans. We don't feel "love", we are compelled by chemical processes to mate and reproduce. We are a food source for dogs, just as your parents were for you. Do you "love" your parents? It's quite clear it's a similar relationship with dogs. They spend most of their time with you, even when they're not eating. They very clearly "love" their owners, which just like us humans is an evolutionary trait to increase the likelihood of survival and successful reproduction.

[@neisanland2503]

ya i notice dogs becoming more expressive. so we understand them better.

[@tiromandal6399]

It's always nice to learn more about our best friend, a selfless friend that we sometimes don't deserve.

[@sadgrill9938]

Selfless? They are one of the most selfish animals on the earth. There have been plenty of studies that show this (look it up). They only care about food

[@benromero2425]

At 6:47 the “excited” bark/growl doesn’t seem fitting. More like the dog was wary

[@dylanbuchman8128]

So sweet 😭😭😭🥹🥹🥹

[@Tracy-xe9zu]

My dogs definitely know when I'm paying attention to them. If I even look at them, the tails start wagging ❤

[@h4-7]

yes

[@abigel_____3811]

🌈THE CUTE GIRL ARE🌈 beautyzone.cam/Abigel 🍑 de los mejores ❤ 11:12 Sun: "Hotter" 11:12 Hopi: "Sweeter" 00:18 Joonie: "Cooler" 18:00 Yoongi: "Butter" 15:55 Son unos de los mejores conciertos , no puede ir pero de tan solo verlos desde pantalla, se que estuvo sorprendente..

[@icefirewolfodell9946]

There's a person online that has her cat/going to be cats, use buttons to communicate and if say the cat press dirty or mouse They give the cat a mouse or find something that's dirty in the house And clean it up for them ❤ Or they press ice, and they get ice You can research that, to learn more

[@Literarydilettante]

More Dr Byosiere please

[@icarusbinns3156]

So… I have to argue the pointing test. My cats understand it. My magpie understands it. The wild crows understand it, when I point to a bit of cracked corn they missed. The pigeons and geese don’t. But the crows and ravens? Yes. My magpie, Tikka, understands it when I point to a spice jar and ask him to ‘scoot here’. He’ll shove it across the counter to me. He’s a very clever bird

[@nerasomnia]

Magpies, crows, and ravens are Corvids. Corvids are incredibly smart, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they understood pointing- especially if one is your pet.

[@icarusbinns3156]

@@nerasomnia he’s not technically a pet. He decided he’d like to live with people. The cats don’t try to hunt him. He’s such a wickedly smart creature. And I love him for it

[@icarusbinns3156]

@@Dimitris_Balf some dogs don’t get it, either. I guess… our pets are like people. Many are smart, others are… not quite as smart as most (thinking of my dumb-as-bones Irish Setter lab mix. He was… not smart. Great pillow, but rather dumb.)

[@lkf8799]

@@Dimitris_Balf They probably do ... They just don't care😼

[@introspectiver1787]

Her point was that dogs outperform other animals when it comes to human directed pointing cues. Not that other animals can't point.

[@gorkamorka999]

"The impossible task experiment" aka "My toy is under the couch"

[@wordzmyth]

Bunny's button board is being recorded 24/7 so these connections can be atudied

[@oldcowbb]

this is the cutest video on this channel

[@hugotavaresgomes9539]

07:06 that is a lot of mosquitoes.

[@jeffthompson9622]

The book, "A Dog In The Cave," offers evidence-based speculation on the coevolution of dogs and humans.

[@cyclesingsleep]

"Spotty-dottie-hairy bits" That's a technical term.

[@brianedwards7142]

Lead sled dog at 8:56 has psycho eyes. lol.

[@OUTSIDER40]

Cute 🥰

[@JakeHunter2010]

Nans best friend

[@3umphbywill313]

@1:24-1:30...Cheeky sneaky quadrupeds! 🙏😆❤️❤️

[@LordMarvin1993]

Someone said they think our hands are our mouths,.kind of makes sense considering we pick things up with them

[@notthingofnote]

Tried the Tupperware with my dobie, he crushed the tub to get the treat 🤦‍♀️

[@v.prestorpnrcrtlcrt2096]

SNORING!!

[@byronvisiado09]

when I point at something my dog just licks my finger

[@zollen123]

When looking at dating profiles "must love dogs".. I couldn't help but wonder dogs also shapes our evolution as well.

[@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavana]

You should do the reverse and look at the adaptations humans have because of living with dogs.

[@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavana]

The only difficulty is tracking down people with minimal historical association with dogs. That is a small fraction of the small fraction of humans who are hunter-gatherers.

[@justayoutuber1906]

7:05 That wolf was howling because of all the mosquitos on his face :(

[@KimiHayashi]

It's not just dogs. I also have cats and we understand each other just as much as I understand my dogs

[@pennytrui1149]

Nah it's just dogs tho otherwise cats would have been in the video.

[@buffster948]

I find the term "artificial selection" a bit strange, at least in our current era. It was defined during the Victorian era (I think by Darwin and the other scientists who worked around our discovery of evolution). For most of humanity's co-evolution with dogs, I imagine humans were probably breeding dogs "intuitively" rather than "artificially"... The breeding wasn't intentional or intended, but, if they found a dog they really liked or loved, they'd look after that dog and it would have a better chance at passing on genes to the next generation. The word "artificial" seems quite cold to me. Artificial now seems to mean "fake, not real, unnatural, manipulated". In the Victorian era it sort of meant something more like "created". It still does when used in words like artifice, or art.

[@h.Freeman]

I wanna do these experiments with my dog...but I gotta get one first 😔

[@user-sp5vh7ip1p]

thanks for watching and leaving a comment you have won Telegram me to claim your prize.......

[@perrilewis180]

Huskys make up with the lack of expression by screaming

[@soisaus564]

This channel is just like Great Big Story accept it's not a dead channel

[@lobi7133]

Once I put some food next to my dog and told her to wait. Then I forgot about it and watched a movie. 2 hours later she was still just patiently lying next to it.

[@GlaciesYin]

Oooh coevolution is so cool, and dogs are such a prime example to study it! the mutualism of selectively advantageous traits have really made the two species evolve in a way that is intricately related. I wonder if we can make more headway into telling if some traits were consciously artificially selected for or subconscious tho, especially behavioural ones

[@babecat2000]

@We Hate Dogs waah

[@cooliipie]

It's selective breeding, not evolution

[@vickyvvvv8182]

Me looking at dog *aww* Me looking at human baby *eww'

[@SimonSozzi7258]

How do we know dogs didn't select us?

[@rosemarietolentino3218]

It does say in the Apocrypha that before the days of Noah. We used to be able to talk to animals…

[@briano9397]

My dog picked the wrong cup then started chewing the cup 🤦

[@alpaca8307]

I think dogs are at the point where we ware 5-6 milion years ago, screaming and grauling at eachother but we eventualy evolved and here we are, i'm fearly sure that we are helping dogs and other animals by interacting with them, chalenging them to evolve faster and i think a future where we are able to comunicate with other animals ia not that unlikely.

[@educostanzo]

I'll be waiting for a follow up video discussing how cats influenced human evolution.

[@DRAGONSAREPRETTYCOOL]

Hmmm

[@BryonLetterman]

Dogs are slowly evolving to become more human-like

[@c_n_uh4796]

I think dogs understand our behavior much more than we do theirs. My dog knows that when I change into workout clothes, I am going to walk her soon. Whereas i barely know when she needs to go to the bathroom

[@amruthavarshini3036]

Hi Wired,Can you please make a totourial on pyramix cube.

[@slikskils1603]

My cat understands pointing. Obviously your line of reasoning is flawed

[@biggreenblob]

Evolved? Or selected for?

[@homewall744]

Nurture is natural.

[@radglou18]

I KNEW MY DOG HAD TINY EYEBROWS!