Have You Ever Wondered Why Some Dog Breeds Howl More Than Others?

It seems their pack has changed species.

Transcript

00:00Dogs are now man's best friend, but at some point, likely over 23,000 years ago, dogs

00:09were still wolves.

00:10Not yet domesticated, but now experts are looking into what makes some dogs act more

00:14like wolves.

00:15Specifically, what drives some breeds to do this?

00:21More than others.

00:22The researchers looked at 28 purebred breeds, playing for them recordings of wolves howling,

00:27finding that while there wasn't any statistical difference in how young dogs reacted, with

00:30older dogs there was.

00:31Here's one of the researchers to explain.

00:33The main finding was that the breed matters, actually.

00:40More precisely that those breeds which are genetically closer to wolves are more prone

00:49to respond with howling and they also show more stress signals than those which are less

00:54related to wolves.

00:56And the stress signals being yawning, shaking the body, licking the mouth, and scratching

01:00all were more frequent in dogs with closer genetic ties to wolves.

01:06So what do these findings mean exactly?

01:08Well the researchers say that selective dog breeding has brought dogs closer to human

01:12society than to their historical wolf packs.