Take a moment and think about the fact that, in the wild, another animal handling your babies is a great way to lose them, so the vast majority of animals have evolved to be protective of their young.
Now think about how much it means that dogs let humans handle their babies.
Meh, dogs have been selectively bred for millennia to bring things to people. They’re also completely dependent on humans not only for nutrition, but also probably in this case behavioural guidance.
It’s not so much “here human I trust you so much I’ll let you hold my baby” as it is “here human this smells important”.
I’ve forgotten the name of the paper but I read a fairly in-depth report on human/dog co-evolution and how it has ingrained an instinctual understanding into each other even as little more than babies for both species.
Take a moment and think about the fact that, in the wild, another animal handling your babies is a great way to lose them, so the vast majority of animals have evolved to be protective of their young.
Now think about how much it means that dogs let humans handle their babies.
Meh, dogs have been selectively bred for millennia to bring things to people. They’re also completely dependent on humans not only for nutrition, but also probably in this case behavioural guidance.
It’s not so much “here human I trust you so much I’ll let you hold my baby” as it is “here human this smells important”.
I’ve forgotten the name of the paper but I read a fairly in-depth report on human/dog co-evolution and how it has ingrained an instinctual understanding into each other even as little more than babies for both species.
I mean that dog looks pretty resigned to the fact that the human is in full control.
That is the exact same look my sister gave me the first time I held my niece. That’s “I trust you but be careful”
Which, in that moment you were in full control.
Yes but I wouldn’t say she was “resigned” to that fact.