Some dogs show signs of addiction, study finds. 🐶🔍 One in three dogs shows signs of toy addiction 🧸 according to scientists who found that terriers and shepherd breeds are the most affected, suggesting a strong genetic component behind compulsive play behavior similar to human behavioral addictions.

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#DogAddiction #ToyObsessed #CanineBehavior #PetHealth #DogScience

All ears 👂: New study pinpoints what determines ear length in dogs 🧬🐶

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#DogEarLength #CanineGenetics #DogScience #EarLengthStudy #CanineBiology

Research has found the earliest 'protodogs' actually had larger brains than their wolf relatives, probably a result of adapting to living alongside us, but by 5,000 years ago, that increase had reversed dramatically, and dogs' brains were now 46% smaller than wolves'.

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#DogScience #BrainEvolution #Protodogs

🐶 New research suggests dog brains began shrinking at least 5,000 years ago, offering insights into domestication.

🧠 While dog brains are now 32% smaller than wolves', "protodogs" from 35,000 years ago did not show this reduction, suggesting brain size may have initially increased during early domestication.

🐾 A reduction in brain size doesn't mean dogs are less intelligent; it may have re-organized to make them better at reading humans and communicating, according to study author Dr. Thomas Cucchi.

#DogScience #Domestication #CanineEvolution

Dogs seem to associate ‘bouba’ with round shapes and ‘kiki’ with spiky shapes, study of 70 dogs finds

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#DogScience #BoubaKiki #ShapePerception

🐶 A new study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences suggests dogs, like humans, may associate the made-up word 'Kiki' with spiky shapes and 'Bouba' with rounded shapes.

🧠 Researchers at the University of Parma in Italy conducted experiments with 70 domestic dogs, using an AI to track their gaze patterns when exposed to the sounds and corresponding shapes.

🎧 In one experiment, dogs showed a bias towards spiky shapes when 'Kiki' was played, but this bias disappeared when owners wore headphones, suggesting dogs weren't simply following owner cues.

#DogScience #AnimalBehavior #Psychology