10 ms·

Is this why dogs and cats are generally tolerant of babies pulling at their ears and whatnot?

• datameta 5y ago
  I think that to a certain extent they recognize the cub-like behavior of human babies and act accordingly.
  • imbnwa 5y ago
    Kittens and puppies do the same exact annoying shit to their bodies as human equivalents as well, not to mention babies/toddlers smell distinct from adults/adolescents, even to humans (or maybe just me).
    • Coneylake 5y ago
      Hold on. Going to sniff a baby for science.
• exolymph 5y ago
  They understand neoteny / youth, which is pretty cool!
• einarfd 5y ago
  That would be the baby schema effect. A lot of animals, us included, has infants with similar traits. These traits is then something that these animals recognize and influence their behavior. This is why we find babies, kittens, lambs and puppies cute. In cat and dogs this shows up as higher tolerance for bad behavior.
• summm 5y ago
  Sometimes. In other cases, especially when the toddler cries, the dog recognizes that cry as typical for prey and mauls or kills the toddler.
• quickthrower2 5y ago
  My dog is pretty tolerant of having his ears pulled when playing with other dogs. I don't what it is about the skin of dogs but they are pretty resilient to this.