Do You Make Your Dog Yawn?

Again, I must say that I support basic research whether or not it appears to have a purpose.

But some studies make my brain hurt.

Take this study out of Japan.  (Yes, there is boneheaded research across the planet.)

Dogs Yawn More Often in Response to Owners' Yawns Than Strangers

"The results of this study suggest the latter, as dogs responded more to their owners' genuine yawns than those of a stranger."

Okay.

"Our study suggests that contagious yawning in dogs is emotionally connected in a way similar to humans. Although our study cannot determine the exact underlying mechanism operative in dogs, the subjects' physiological measures taken during the study allowed us to counter the alternative hypothesis of yawning as a distress response."

So what does this imply?  If your dog yawns a lot, is it because you are yawning?  Or that you are an intrinsically boring person?

Stay tuned for the answer to this intriguing question.

Jacomus

Resident Scribe