(chalk writing on blackboard)
(orchestral music)
- Hey Caroline, I've
heard through other people
in the office that you like dogs.
- Well Christian, as
a matter of fact I do.
But, I mean, who doesn't like dogs?
- They'd have to be some
kind of an inhuman monster
because dogs are totally awesome.
My dog Winchester does this
thing whenever I get home
from work where he's super
excited and he's jumping
all around and he's happy,
and then he starts yawning.
- Did you know that yawning
is actually the first
expression dogs learn to use
when they're tiny puppies?
So it has multiple meanings
depending on the situtation
they're in.
- So ecstatic joy could be
one of these emotions, right?
- Well, dogs usually yawn
when they want to send
a passifying or calming signal
to other dogs or people,
like, hey everybody let's
just take a breather
and chill out, okay.
- Yeah that makes sense.
Yawns have no element
of fear or aggression.
It's like the exact opposite of a threat,
but wait, why would my dog do that to me?
- Sometimes dogs yawn when they're getting
obedience training.
If he's frustrated he might be asking you
to give him a little break.
(dog barks)
That is, if he sees
you as the dominant one
in your relationship.
- Um...
- Let's move on to the
next thing it could mean,
which is that your dog might
be cooling off his brain.
There's a veterinary
behaviorist at UC Davis
that thinks dog brains
get hot during periods
of inactivity.
It just gets warm because
the circulation slows down.
So yawning supposedly cools
that arterial blood down,
helping the dog's brain function.
- So I'm either dominating my dog too much
or he's having trouble
thinking because he's
not doing anything while I'm at work.
- Well there's one other
thing it might mean.
Dogs also yawn when they're
dealing with anxiety
or uncertaintly, and this
includes being excited.
- Yes!
So it's how he controls his enthusiasm.
He yawns the same way
I try not to saturate
everyone I meet with all of my ideas.
Believe it or not, some people find my
pleasing personality to
just be a little intense.
- Sure they do.
You know, dogs yawn when
they're nervous too.
Like in a vet's office.
Do you yawn when you're nervous?
- What?
- Dogs can also catch
yawning from the human
beings around them.
You know how, if you
yawn, then other people
in the room start yawning?
Well that often has to do with a person's
capacity for empathy.
You know that feeling
what someone else feels?
- No I do not know.
Feeling other people's feelings?
That sounds awful.
- Try reading about it then.
The study was published in a journal
called Biology Letters in 2008.
They said 21 out of 29 dogs yawned
at least once in response to the yawn
of an assistant in the room with them.
- Okay, so human to dog yawn contagion.
Sounds like the beginning
of a zombie movie
where everybody just yawns at each other.
What about you out there
watching this video.
Does your dog yawn?
Did they catch it from you,
or are they communicating their emotional
needs to you?
- Tell us about your dogs
in our YouTube comments,
and don't forget to subscribe
to the Brainstuff channel
so you'll get even more videos of the
How Stuff Works crew
answering everyday questions.
