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| Image credit: Lifesize/Getty Images |
We’ve all
heard that a dog’s bark can be worse than its bite, but what about its yawn?
It turns
out that aspect of canine behavior may provide evidence that dogs really are
man’s best friend. A study out of Lund University in Sweden found that our
canine companions often yawn in reaction to seeing a human do the same thing.
The
phenomenon, known as contagious yawning, is prominent among many groups of
animals, humans included. However, the process, which is believed to indicate
empathy and help contribute to group mentality and social structure, has been
less studied between species.
Elainie Madsen,
a doctor of psychology at Lund University who co-authored the study, told ABC
News dogs were chosen because “they spend so much time with us, and we spend so
much time with them.”
“For those
of us who have dogs,” she said, “we often feel this very close connection with
them, and we feel that they must understand or sympathize with our emotions and
our emotional states.”
The study
took 35 dogs between the ages of 4 and 14 months and exposed them to various
yawning human beings. Madsen found the results fascinating.
“We showed
that the dogs were yawning contagiously – not just yawning but they also took
on the emotion that yawning usually signifies, which is usually sleepiness and
tiredness,” she said.
As with
humans, age proved to be a significant factor in whether or not a dog exhibited
contagious yawning.
“They go
through what seems to be an empathy development that somehow mirrors humans’
empathy development, so it’s just obviously on a very different time scale,”
Madsen said.
“Human children don’t begin to yawn contagiously until they’re about 4 years old. Below that age, they seem pretty immune to others yawning at them. In dogs, this happens when they’re about 7 months old. Dogs below that age don’t seem to yawn, either.”
“Human children don’t begin to yawn contagiously until they’re about 4 years old. Below that age, they seem pretty immune to others yawning at them. In dogs, this happens when they’re about 7 months old. Dogs below that age don’t seem to yawn, either.”
So what
does this mean for dog owners?
According
to Madsen, it’s a reason to rest assured that your dog really does love you as
much as you love it.
“Dogs
really have a close emotional connection with people,” she said, “with owners
as well as with other people.”
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