A new study shows the 'key to cuteness' in dogs. The study, involving twenty different dog breeds, found that moving a particular facial muscle increases people's response and increases their chances of finding a new home. The dogs move what is called the AU101 muscle to create a baby-like expression, and it helps them find a home faster than dogs who appear to be happy or sad, playful or quirky. The findings bolster research released two years ago that showed how people become attached to their dogs by looking at their eyes. But what makes this latest study unique is that all the studies involved all started with a photo with no physical contact between the dog and the person.
However, this latest study took the thought process one step further to find out how roller-roll photos play in a dog's success, and whether there was a particular type of photo that could dramatically increase a dog's chance of finding a new home. find. Twenty dogs of different breeds, sizes, colors and genders completed the study in a variety of photo styles including:happy and sad, playful and quirky with a separate category for dogs with a certain facial expression (specifically around the dog's eyes and eyebrow movement ). The findings showed that of all categories, dogs that move their eyebrows to make their eyes appear larger, like babies, draw a higher percentage than all other categories.
Dogs with sad pictures came in second, while dogs with happy pictures or dogs seen in happier circumstances were far behind in attracting attention. The myth that dogs of one color attract more or less interest than others, the so-called "black dog syndrome" was also explored during the study with little difference between light and dark colored dogs.
The study also found:
● A dog's facial expression in their frame photo can be more influential than a dog's breed, age, size, color and sex when it comes to re-examinations
● Facial muscle AU101 is key to cuteness in dogs
● Adult people seem to react to dogs the same way we react to babies
● Dogs with a 'sad' expression in their photos are more likely to find a new home than happy dogs
● People can be influenced by a dog just by looking into its eyes.
