Thread by @bunsenbernerbmd

Are dogs really friendly wolves?
The short answer is....nope.
Find out something amazing today on The Super Pawesome Science Thread!
#TSPST

It’s true that thousands of years ago, the dog sleeping on the couch with you, was some kind of wild wolf.
Instead of playing fetch, the humans could have been a snack.
What changed?
The brain of the wolf, actually.

How can you test this?
Well, comparing wolf pups raised by humans to dog puppies, dog puppies just adore people.
In fact, puppies blow wolf puppies away at being friendly.

Dog puppies are 30 times more likely to approach a familiar person compared to the “friendly” wolf pups.
This study was done at Arizona State University.
The study might make you a bit sad, but it has a happy ending.

37 wolf pups got ALL the attention they could ever want.
They were played with by humans, snuggled, and handled.
44 Golden Retriever pups got virtually zero human interaction, except from human care givers.
(don’t worry they were with their mom and littermates)

Then the research team exposed the wolf pups who KNEW what a human was to humans.
As well the sheltered Golden Pups were exposed to humans.
To everyone’s shock the Golden Retriever puppies sought out human help when things got tough more than the wolf pups.

The dog pups looked at human eyes for longer and followed a pointed finger more readily as well!
Through the process of domestication, dogs are just built different.
Well, their brains are.
They are hardwired to trust humans and follow commands.

A litter of puppies will chase a human, frolick with a human, and tackle them with love.
If you have every sat down in the middle of a litter, it's a poopy, magical experience.
Wolf pups are rather uninterested.
Wolves are just not dogs.
And Dogs are just not wolves anymore.

That's a wrap!

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