Do you find it extremely hard to say no to your dog when it brings out the ‘puppy eyes’? Do you always give in to their demands and find yourself to be momentarily weak regarding your authority?
Well, now you finally have an explanation behind it other than, “But it looks so cute”.
According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the reason ‘puppy eyes’ exist is because evolution has led to domestic dogs using their eyebrow muscles more flexibly than their wild counterparts.
This action leads to them having bigger eyes which resemble a baby’s and that triggers a nurturing instinct in human beings. Researchers also compared dogs with wolves, who are their close relatives, and came to the conclusion that dogs can freely use their eyebrows muscles while the latter can hardly move them.
The study’s co-author Anne Burrows of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh said,
You don’t typically see such muscle differences in species that are that closely related.
According to scientists, human beings focus on the upper area of the face while communicating and this has led to the muscles being developed because it gives the dogs an advantage.
Now I know how these cute doggos are always getting their way with us!