Your Puppy Doesn't Care If You're Tired

“While dogs above seven months of age catch human yawns, younger dogs are immune to yawn contagion. Contagious yawning is not just a sign of sleepiness or boredom. Previous research has shown contagious yawning in humans, adult chimpanzees, baboons and dogs, and suggests that it can be used as a measure of empathy. Empathy, mimicking the emotional responses of others, is difficult to measure directly, but contagious yawning allows assessment of a behavioral empathetic response, the researchers say.”
 — Or maybe they aren’t as jaded and bored by the emptiness of existence that the older dogs have, through the brute process of being, learned the hard way. Did you ever think of that, Science?

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