There’s nothing cuter than a puppy. Those fuzzy faces. Those tiny ears. That little tail. They are the most adorable critters on the planet. But puppies have some pretty unique characteristics that you may not know. Check them out and see if you know these facts about puppies.
Puppies Love Baby Talk
Puppies simply love baby talk. Just like babies, puppies respond positively to sing-song voices. A recent study at University of Lyon at Saint-Etienne showed that people talk baby talk to puppies and to puppy photos, and when the recorded talk was replayed to puppies, the puppies responded positively. When the recordings were played to adult dogs, the dogs showed no interest in the recordings. Scientists don’t know why puppies are hard wired for cute talk, but apparently they are. So, don’t feel foolish talking to you puppy with that higher pitched baby talk. He’s loving it.
Your Puppy Really Does Love You
The cute act your puppy is giving you really isn’t an act. When that puppy looks into your eyes with love, he really does love you. A study in 2005 confirmed this. Puppies show preferential treatment to their owners who raised them over strangers. They followed their owners more and even waited by the door when the owners left for bit. It’s interesting because wolves that were raised by caretakers showed no more preferential treatment toward their caretakers whom they knew their entire lives than a stranger.
Looking at Puppies (and Puppy Pictures) Helps You Focus
If you’re one of those people who puts up cute pictures of puppies on your workspace walls and have a screensaver with puppies on it, you’re probably a pretty focused individual. Japanese researchers in 2012 discovered that people who looked at cute pictures of puppies were more focused, careful, and effective at accomplishing tasks that required a high amount of concentration than people who looked at photos of other things or older dogs. So, if you want to be more productive, surround yourself with cuteness.
Puppies Learn to Read Human Gestures
If you think your puppy understands you when you point at something, you’re right! Scientists discovered that puppies as young as six weeks old understand when you point at something. Of course, the skill is learned, and they get better at it with age, but you can actually teach your pup to look and find something you point to. Good puppy!
Puppies Don’t Have Fully Developed Senses When Born
When a puppy is born, he responds to smell, touch, and warmth, but not much else. He is both blind and deaf for the first couple of weeks of his life. He won’t fully develop his amazing hearing until he is four weeks old and his eyesight won’t be fully developed until he’s about six weeks old. That means he must rely on his mom and siblings for support until that time.
Puppies Grow Differently, Depending on the Breed
Studies have shown that the emotional and physical development of puppies varies by breed. That makes some puppies more immature than others even though they may be the same age. So, if you have a puppy from a breed that is reputed to be slow at maturing, take your time and enjoy having a puppy a bit longer. Don’t expect him to behave like a faster maturing breed of the same age.
Size of Litters is Breed Dependent
Not all purebreds have a similar number of puppies. A study conducted in 2011 showed that small breed dogs had fewer pups than other breeds. For example, Pomeranians and Toy Poodles had an average of 2.4 puppies and Rhodesian Ridgebacks (the dog breed with the most puppies) had an average of 8.9 puppies. Age also played a role in litter numbers with older dogs having fewer pups than younger ones.
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