7 Adorable Things Your Dog Does Explained By Science

Some of your dogs most adorable features actually boil down to biology and evolution. Learn the truth about your canine friend's cutest habits.

1. Doggy Dreams

Via cheezburger.com

All that wobbling around and twitching while sleeping is actually your dog dreaming! Dogs experience the same REM movement that humans do which means they dream just like us. Well, not just like us, dog dreams are probably more attune to giant bones. Which I guess is a bit like human dreams.

2. The Head Tilt

Via everythingdogs1.blogspot.com

By the time they’re mature some of the most intelligent breeds of dogs can learn up to 250 words of human language, the intellectual equivalent of a 2 year old child. So when your dog tilted its head while you confessed your secrets too it, it might have been because it understood what you were saying.

3. Excited ears!

Via imgdonkey.com

We all agree that a dog’s ears are the cutest part of any dogs. That might be because there’s over a dozen muscles working to move them around. This is why dogs appear to be so expressive with their ears.

4. Curling up

Via persephonemagazine.com

Among the other cute traits of dogs is curling up for a little puppy nap. This trait is actually an innate instinct dogs have developed in the wild; curling up in a ball keeps them warm and protects their vital body parts from predators.

5. Puppy dog eyes

Those guilty eyes you get from your dog when you reprimand them for doing something wrong aren’t actually guilt. The dog is actually just responding to your anger. A study monitored dog’s facial expressions when they were being yelled at both when they had done something wrong and when they hadn’t. In both scenarios the dog produces the guilty eyes.

6. Nose Licking

Via wagmorequalitypetcare.blogspot.com

We all know how wet a dog’s nose is, many owners believe it’s because of how often they lick their nose. The cute gesture isn’t what wets the nose it’s actually a special mucus they secrete that can absorb scent. They lick their nose to sample the scent in their mouth.

7. Peeing with one leg up

Via sodahead.com

It’s a common fact that dogs pee to mark their territory, and equally common that male dogs pee with one leg up and often on lamp-posts or fire hydrants. Male dogs actually do this so that their urine will be higher up and so that they will seem larger and therefore more intimidating to other dogs. In fact, in Africa wild dogs can be seen attempt to urinate while running up tree trunks to seem extremely tall.

-Source: "How Dogs Think: Understanding the Canine Mind" by Stanley Coren