Dog lover’s, take note
Dog lovers, take note: A study published last week in the journal Current Biology has concluded that puppies are naturally wired to communicate with people from birth.
"Puppies will look at and return a person's social gaze and successfully use information given by that person in a social context from a very young age, all prior to any extensive experience with people," says Dr. Emily Bray from the Arizona Canine Cognition Center.
Bray and her team have been studying dogs for more than a decade, and their recent study measured the ability of 375 eight-week-old puppies to make eye contact with a researcher and then follow the researcher's eye and hand gesture to a treat hidden under one of two cups. The treats were hidden equally between the two cups, and all of the 375 puppies were Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers, or lab-golden mixes still living with their mother and littermates.
The research team determined that the puppies were "highly skillful" in looking into the eyes of the researcher, following cues, and selecting the right cup 70% of the time. Many of the puppies were able to follow the researcher's gesture on the first trial with no training, Bray said.
The team then followed 160 of the puppies into adulthood, testing them on similar tasks to see whether their behaviors would change as adults. Bray said the continued research confirmed that there is a genetic basis for their ability to engage skillfully with humans.
"Almost universally across all of the tasks, performance improved as they aged, especially in things like impulse control and social cues," she said. "They can do it when they're young, but they can do it even better by the time they are an adult."
As we set aside our envy of a job that requires working with puppies day after day (ah, the bliss!), there is much that we can learn from Bray's study. First of all, if you have ever felt like your dog's gaze deep into your eyes was an attempt to read your soul, you're probably correct. And secondly, this need for deep connection translates to humans as well, particularly as we have endured 15-plus months of limited interactions with others. As Christians, how can we help to meet this need? Could it be as simple as looking one another in the eyes?
We all desire to be seen in this world, whether by a puppy or another human. How many times each day do you meet the gaze of those around you, allowing for a moment of human connection? The act may sound simple, but as we begin to emerge from months of isolation, the heart-level impact of making eye contact with another can make all the difference in someone's day.
We are reminded in 1 Samuel that the Lord does not perceive others by how they look, as we too often do, but perhaps by something more akin to a puppy's soul-searching gaze:
But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).
How do you encounter those around you as you move through your days? Our culture often speaks of the platitudes of offering a kind word, which can be important, but do you really see the people you meet? What would it look like to focus on looking for the heart of those you encounter, remembering Bray's study and the inherent intensity of a puppy's direct gaze as it stares into the eyes and reads the body language of each new person it meets? While we can't all play with puppies every day (darn), how might a heart-focused presence change the cadence of the world around you?
Peace on your week,
Dr. Jennie A. Harrop