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[soft music playing]

[dogs barking in the distance]

[narrator] We think we know
what's going on inside the mind of a dog.

But new discoveries suggest
we may not know the whole story.

Dogs have found their way
into every corner of our lives.

[camera clicks]

-[host] There he is.
-[woman] Hi, baby!

[host] Hi! Hi, Toulouse.

-[narrator] They're our companions.
-Good dog.

-[narrator] Our saviors.
-Here, Lassie, take it to Gramps.

[Lassie barks]

[narrator] Our pop-culture icons.

Peter, you hear that?

[howls]

Scooby-Doo!

[narrator] And yet we're only
beginning to understand

how their brains actually work.

[woman 1] For a long time, scientists felt

like dogs weren't really worthy
of scientific study.

But now, canine science
is really blossoming.

[woman 2] Puppy! Look!

[man] That big aha moment happened

when people started using methods
that had been developed to use with kids…

[bell rings]

[man] …to uncover and unlock
the secrets of the dog social world.

-[bell rings]
-Bravissimo!

[narrator] So how did dogs and humans
become so hopelessly intertwined?

[all gushing]

[woman 3] I do think my dog loves me,

and I think there is scientific evidence
to back that up.

[automated voice]

[narrator] New science is helping
to decode their strange behavior,

decipher their hidden language…

[howling and barking]

[narrator] …and discover why
dogs are the way they are.

[man] Understanding the mind of dogs
is really an incredibly useful thing,

not just to enrich
our relationships with them,

but to understand ourselves better.

[narrator] We can all get closer
to our dogs

if we know their secrets.

[uplifting music playing]

[music fades]

[puppies grunting]

[narrator] Dogs are the single most
diverse animal to ever walk the earth.

[man] Given how different dogs look
from one another,

you can imagine that
if an alien from another planet landed,

it could be confused.

[dog whimpers]

It would be really easy to think
that a Chihuahua and a Great Dane

are completely different things.

The history of where dog breeds come from
is really fascinating.

[panting]

There are breeds that were bred
originally in Asia,

Africa, or the Americas.

Most of the breeds that we recognize today

are gonna be 100, 125 years old.

[narrator] Until the late 1800s,
dogs were primarily bred for work,

when a new phenomenon
took over the dog world.

[whimpers]

[narrator] Vanity.

[Hare] Instead of having iPhones
or Louis Vuitton bags,

people started to breed dogs
to communicate status.

Then other people wanted dogs
of that same breed,

and they became popular.

[narrator] In Scotland,
the first golden retriever

was believed to be an undesirable mutation

from a long line of bird dogs.

But the eccentric Lord Tweedmouth
liked the new color

and bred him with other soft, red dogs,

creating a brand-new breed.

[dogs barking]

[narrator] For decades,

the most popular breed
has been the Labrador Retriever.

But in 2022, the French bulldog
surpassed the Lab in the US.

[dog whimpers]

[narrator] So how exactly
did our most popular pet

become such a valuable member
of the family?

To understand that,
we need to start at the very beginning.

So where do dogs come from?

Whoa, that's a… fun one.

[barks]

[Hare] The scientific name
of the domestic dog, our best buddies,

is Canis familiaris.

The scientific name of a wolf
is Canis lupus.

[growling]

But every dog and every dog breed
is just another version of a wolf

that, through selection and evolution,
has expressed itself.

[narrator] Every breed shares 99.9%
of the same DNA as wolves.

[wolves howling]

[Hare] Wolves were extremely successful

up until, really, 50,000 years ago.

Millions and millions and millions
of wolves

spread all over Europe, Asia,
and North America.

There weren't just wolves.
There's what's called a carnivore guild.

-There were giant hyenas…
-[howls]

-[Hare] …giant cave bears…
-[roars]

-[Hare] …lions.
-[growls]

[Hare] The modern human population
pulses out of Africa,

and we are super predators.

[grunts]

[Hare] We're so good at hunting

that most other large predators
go extinct.

[creature cries]

[Hare] Two species that do survive
are brown bears…

[bear roars]

-[Hare] …and wolves.
-[wolf howls]

[Hare] And so wolves are real survivors.

Okay, now it becomes
a little bit more mysterious.

Instead of being afraid of humans,

a population of wolves,

they actually became attracted
to all the yummy garbage

that the humans were creating.

So a new type of friendliness evolved.

[laughter]

[Hare] So survival of the friendliest

is really the most successful
evolutionary strategy

that has been identified.

[dog panting]

[Hare] And it is counter
to survival of the fittest.

It is not at all that being
big, bad alpha makes you superior.

And, in fact, if anything,
being dominant is super costly.

In any species that evolves,

a new type of friendliness
that leads to new forms of cooperation

just absolutely does gangbusters
in the game of life.

Whether it's flowers

that are really an evolutionary innovation
in the plant world…

[buzzing]

[Hare] "I'm gonna be friendly,
give you something,

and then we're gonna cooperate."

And guess what?
There's only one terrestrial vertebrate

that can live year-round in Antarctica.

And it is the Emperor Penguin.

[penguins chirping]

[Hare] They do it by hugging.

They hug all winter.

So friendliness wins.
It wins again and again in life.

[dog panting]

[narrator] And dogs have
a special adaptation

that helps them take friendliness
to the next level.

[Hare] As an example, one of the things
that's changed dramatically in dogs,

relative to wolves,

is they have a muscle
that allows them to pull back their eye…

[woman] Oh my God!

[Hare] …and show the white part
of your eye, called the sclera.

And we know that when humans interact,

seeing white sclera is the way
that our brain automatically recognizes

that you're interacting
with another human being.

It's actually one of the key ways

that newborn infants
recognize their mother.

Puppy dog eyes.

They really hijack one of the main ways
we interact with each other.

[dog whines]

[Hare] And dogs
have taken advantage of it.

[puppies yipping]

[narrator] Puppies are born
blind and deaf.

But they can immediately
smell their way to Mom.

After three weeks,
these puppies are opening their eyes

for the very first time.

[puppies yipping]

[narrator] This litter has ten pups.

Four above average,
but far from the world record of 24.

And every single one is unique.

Right down to the tip of their nose.

So dogs have nose prints
in the same way that we have fingerprints.

If you were to put
a little bit of ink on your dog's nose

and press it up to a piece of paper,

it would make a unique imprint

that would be different
from any other dog.

[dog whimpers]

[narrator] Each puppy's personality
is just as different as their nose print.

And researchers
are trying to figure out why.

[Hecht] So it's been
a long-standing question in science,

how much does nature matter
versus how much does nurture matter?

You can never
just have an impact of one or the other.

They both interact to produce
the dog's individual personality.

What makes a dog the way that they are

in terms of how they interact
with the world?

From the environment side,

that's everything they experience
over the course of their life,

even before they're born.

[puppies grunting]

Maternal style,
a topic near and dear to my heart.

So that is something
that we have been studying

in the first three weeks
of the puppy's life.

What we're learning is there is variation

in how much
mothers interact with their puppies.

We see a range of mothers
that are constantly with their puppies,

and then the more laissez-faire,
hands-off mothers.

We see impacts of that affecting
the puppies' problem-solving skills

and even their personalities.

What we're learning is that the mothers

that were letting the puppies
figure it out on their own,

their puppies went on to become
the most successful guide dogs.

A reasonable hypothesis is that, you know,

they're kind of learning to figure it out
for themselves early on,

and that's serving them well
in their later career.

[narrator] Understanding
how a puppy thinks

is a window into the mind of all dogs.

[Bray] Hi! How are you?

You ready?

Are we gonna see what you're thinkin'?

Hi, handsome. You're so cute.

I know. I love you.

Right now, we're going to be running
the pointing task,

and this is kind of
the quintessential canine cognition task

that I feel like
kind of put canine cognition on the map

back in the early 2000s.

Puppy, look.

We call it an object choice test.

We use our high-tech Solo cups.

So there's two hiding options.

We actually tape treats
into the bottom of each of the cups,

so both options smell like food.

If they're choosing the correct cup,

it's because they're using the commutative
cue that we're providing them.

And then I simply point
to the one that the food is under.

Okay.

[laughter]

[Bray] Good job!

And what has been found
is that dogs, in general,

are really good
at following a human point…

Okay.

-Good choice.
-Yes!

-Good boy! You got it!
-Good boy!

…even better than our closest
living relatives, the apes.

[Hare] So, as smart
as our close primate relatives are,

bonobos, chimpanzees,

there's one thing
they're not very good at,

which is understanding that when
someone gestures to them in a helpful way,

they're trying to direct you and help.
They don't really get it.

You chose the wrong one!

That's something that's really crucially
important in human development.

And because human infants,
9 to 12 months of age,

we start understanding
when somebody gestures or points,

to follow the direction they're pointing,

we could learn something
about what they're trying to show.

Hey, lookie here. Where is it?
Can you get it? Can you get the ball?

Hey! Nice job.

[Hare] You got it.

All humans can do this.
It's very important to our development.

But then these close relatives
can't really do that.

So that then led us to believe, um,

that maybe there's something really
important that's different about dogs.

-[woman] Nice!
-[Bray] Yahoo!

[narrator] This pointing test
was the beginning

of a dog-science renaissance,

and it led Dr. Brian Hare

to start the Duke University
Canine Cognition Center.

[woman] Okay.

[Hare] It is a center that's dedicated
to understanding dog behavior, psychology,

and we're trying to learn
how dogs' minds work.

[woman] Okay!

[Hare] And then we're trying to use
what we learn to train them better

and have them raised
to do jobs more effectively.

[narrator] When given the chance,
dogs are capable of amazing things.

From tracking whales…

[reporter 1] Dio guides scientists
to the whales by smelling their poop.

[narrator] …to exploring the cosmos.

[reporter 2] Liftoff.

[narrator] Even running for office.

[reporter 3] Max is a golden retriever.

-My favorite politician.
-Yeah.

[reporter 3] He's won
three consecutive elections

in this small, picturesque town.

[narrator] But perhaps most amazing,

dogs who devote their lives
to helping people.

[Hare] What people view
as a great dog today

is what service dogs have been
bred and raised and trained to be

for a century.

Folks have a lot to learn
from service dogs

about how they might wanna raise
their own dog.

[narrator] In 1986, Charles Schulz,
the creator of Snoopy,

helped build Canine Companions…

[woman cheering]

[narrator] …the world's largest
service-dog school.

They raise 1,000 puppies a year

in six campuses across the country.

These puppies are eight weeks old.
Time they head out into the world.

And their journey
can tell us a lot about our own dogs.

[woman 1] Eight weeks is a time
when puppies are at an age

where it's good for them
to go and be independent.

They've been bonding with their mom,
with their littermates.

It's really important that they start
bonding more with people at this stage.

[woman 2] Come on, puppies! Buh-buh-buh!

-[woman 3] Puppies!
-[woman 2] Come on, puppies!

[narrator] Typically, at eight weeks,
puppies go to a puppy raiser,

but these four puppies
are taking a special detour.

[Kennedy] So we've been working
with Duke University.

We have puppies that go and stay at Duke
from 8 to 20 weeks of age,

doing cognition tests repeatedly
every couple of weeks throughout the time.

[whimsical jazz music plays]

[narrator] These pups
are flying 2,500 miles

on a plane donated by a volunteer pilot

to attend puppy kindergarten…

[barking]

[narrator] …a part of Duke University's
Canine Cognition Center.

[relaxed jazz music playing]

[ding]

-[man laughs]
-[woman 1 squeals]

[woman 2] So cute!

-[man laughing] Oh my gosh.
-Hello!

Oh, it's good to see you.

-Did you have a good flight?
-[man] Oh my gosh.

My name is Vanessa Woods,
and I run the Duke Puppy Kindergarten.

-Yeah. You do a good job.
-Thank you.

-You do a really nice job.
-What do you do, really?

-Uh… you know. I don't know.
-[laughs]

[birds chirping]

Let's check this guy out. Okay.

Now, you've never seen this before, right?

All right.

This is really tough,
even for an adult dog.

[Bray] Mm-hmm. Okay.

[Bray and Hare] Oh!

-Oh, well done. Yay.
-[Woods] You'll get it the next time.

[Hare] It's hard.

Duke Puppy Kindergarten, you wanna take
puppies at their most cutest.

[Hare] Don't go to the left.

[Woods] But also at their final period
of rapid brain development.

And we play
these sort of fun cognitive games

to see if we can come up
with a cognitive profile

to predict who is most likely
to make it as a service dog.

-[Hare] Trial two. Pretty good.
-Good job.

-You did it.
-[Hare] Quick learner.

[Woods] At the moment, it takes two years
before you even know

if the dog is gonna make it.

And we can take a puppy
and really run them through these tests

and say, "Okay, you know,
you're definitely looking like

what we predict a service dog would be."

But other ones, you're just…
you're just gonna make a great pet.

[Bray] Puppy, look.

Okay.

[Hare] We have a task called
the impossible task,

and what we're seeing is that some dogs

immediately focus on trying to get food

out of a container that they previously
have gotten food out of,

but we've locked it and made it impossible
or really hard to get it open.

[Bray] Okay.

[Hare] Some dogs, they realize,
"I can't get that thing open,"

and they immediately look up
to the person,

and they start barking
or, you know, making eye contact,

trying to communicate with the person.

What we've learned is

the dog that really just tries
to solve the problem on its own,

those dogs tend to be
really great at problems

that have to do with finding things,

like in dogs that are gonna be trained
in detection work.

-[Bray] Wow.
-[Woods] It's amazing!

[Hare] The dog who realizes
there's a problem they can't solve

and kind of look up
and ask for help in a way,

those dogs tend to be dogs that are
gonna do really, really well for service

and for helping people with disabilities.

You're backwards.
You can't see it from there.

You wanna go around? Come here.

[Hare] And so we've been tracking
how their cognition starts to emerge.

It's not like a light bulb just comes on.

It's more like a symphony
of lots of little lights.

-And--
-Christmas lights.

Yeah, they kind of blink on
at different times.

Um, and maybe they're different colors.
I don't know.

-Um…
-Fireworks.

I like Christmas trees
with colored lights.

[toy meowing tunefully]

[Hare] So some of these games
we're seeing consistency,

that what we measure when they're puppies
does tell us about what they do as adults.

[narrator] These puppies are
in kindergarten from 8 to 20 weeks.

After that,
they go to a certified puppy raiser.

[laughter]

[woman] No more food, buddy.

All done.

[cat meows]

[narrator] Puppy raisers
are experienced foster parents

who raise the dogs
until they're 18 months.

They're tasked with teaching
these puppies the basics.

[woman] Yes!

[narrator] How to be a good dog.

[woman speaking]

[woman] Oh my God.

Hi!

[narrator] The first year and a half
is the most formative time for a dog.

[Hecht] There's this folk knowledge that
one human year equals seven dog years.

That's not exactly right.

Um, dogs mature very quickly
early in life.

They reach sexual maturity
in about six months,

but after that,
their development sort of flattens out.

[narrator] At 18 months,
they're young adults

and ready for service dog training school.

[indistinct chattering]

We raise and train service dogs
for people with disabilities.

Service dogs change lives
in more ways than you would think.

The big day that dogs come in
to their first day of college,

we receive the dogs,

we say, "Hey, I'm your new trainer.
Let's get to work."

-[man] Yes.
-[woman] That's it. Good boy.

[narrator] In this first stage
of service-dog school,

candidates undergo
six months of rigorous training.

[woman] Yes. Good girl.

We start training a dog
in over 40 different commands.

Touch. Yay.

Shake. 'Kay.

Give. Yes.

Clients may have mobility disabilities,

so we train very task-oriented commands.

[woman] Up. Yep.

[Hutchinson] So a dog
can assist you with things

that you wouldn't normally be able to do.

Push. Yes!

Tug.

Good boy.

We serve veterans with PTSD,

so we train interactive skills,
like nightmare interruptions.

Yes. Good boy, buddy.

Dogs are meant to enhance a person's life.

Good girl.

[Hutchinson] Because we do have
very high standards,

only approximately half of our dogs
do graduate and become a service dog.

[narrator] There are hundreds
of hopeful people

waiting to be matched with a service dog.

So every dog counts.

[Hutchinson] Light. You got it.
Come on, get up.

Yeah! Good boy.

Whoo!

What do you think?

Was that a good workout?
Was that a good workout?

Was that a good workout? Yeah-yeah.

Wow!

So this is Bonus,

and the bonus fact about him is that

he, once upon a time, had braces
because of an overbite.

Yes, he's very sweet. He is very lovey.

Bonus's favorite way of interacting
is butt scratches.

This really gets him going.

He really likes the butt scratches.
Right, baby?

Ohh. Yeah.

[woman laughs]

Bonus, tug.

[Hutchinson] Bonus needs
some confidence building,

some encouragement.

Oh! Try again.

But he is interactive.

Light. Yes!

He is really good at precision
when it comes to tasks.

Come on, get up. Yeah!

[narrator] Three keys to training a dog…

Up.

[narrator] Patience.

Yeah! Good boy!

-[narrator] Repetition.
-Wow.

Light. You got it.

Yes! Good boy.

[narrator] And understanding
what they're trying to say.

So our job is to teach people
what your dog is saying to you,

what your dog is thinking.

Good boy. Good.

Dogs are constantly communicating with us.

All you have to do is watch your dog,
listen to your dog.

He's giving you
all the information you need.

-[woman 1] Oh my God.
-[woman 2] Hi!

[laughter]

[woman 2] Hi!

[dog whimpering]

[man] When I'm looking at the body
language, the tail wag is gonna say a lot.

A loose tail
tends to indicate less stress,

more happiness, more curiosity.

[dog whimpers]

A tighter tail,
if we think about it in human terms…

This is an exercise
for everybody at home watching.

Tighten your butt right now,
and then ask yourself how you feel.

And there's usually
an emotional correlation there.

The tail tucked or wagging low
indicates to me that there's some stress.

[barks]

The helicopter tail usually comes
with a good, big butt wiggle.

Typically, when we see that,
there is an emotional experience

that seems to be really positive
for the dog.

From the current science,

if a dog is seeing somebody that they know
and has a positive association with,

we see a tail wag to the right.

It's pretty cool.

But I want to see
what's happening with the body

that might be correlating
with what's happening with the tail.

[barks]

Dogs have 16 different facial expressions.

[camera clicks]

-[dog growls]
-[Draper] Anger.

-[dog whimpers]
-[Draper] Anxiety.

-[dog whines]
-[Draper] Pain.

-[dog barks]
-[Draper] Happiness.

-[dog whimpers]
-[Draper] Sadness.

You compare that to humans, who have
about 27 different facial expressions.

And then chimpanzees,
one of the smartest mammals in the world,

have only 13 to 14 facial expressions.

So dogs learned a lot of that from us
by what we do and what we've shown them.

[Hutchinson laughs]

Oh, your face. Can you do a downsy?

Good boy. Fastest I've ever seen him
do this for a treat.

So this sweet little guy is Peabody.

He has a relaxing presence.

When Peabody's around, everybody's chill.

Most of the time,
he likes to lay in the sun.

When all the dogs
are running loops around and playing tug,

he can be found sunbathing.

P, get.

Training can be a little slow.

You got it.

He does need work on retrieving.

However, he performs
interactive skills very well.

Visit.

Interrupting anxiety,
that's actually a task.

That's a trained behavior.

Good boy.

So we are constantly evaluating
their appropriateness

to become service dogs.

[narrator] Most dogs sleep
about half of every day.

[barks]

[narrator] But not all.

[Hutchinson] So this silly boy is Nemo.

Nemo is very animated.

You got the pterodactyl.

-[barks]
-No.

Nemo, down.

No.

Yes. Good boy.

-No. I don't think we were doing that.
-[barks]

Not that one either.

Nemo is very much in love with life.

He does need to focus
when it comes to working.

One more. Fetch.

Nemo!

[narrator] Twenty percent of dogs
show ADHD-like behavior,

twice as many as humans.

Whether Nemo is one of them
is yet to be seen.

Dogs with ADHD can be more impulsive,

even hyperactive.

But that doesn't make them untrainable.

[woman] Nemo, tug.

[Hutchinson] Nemo has a job to do
in the real world.

[woman] Yeah. That's it. Good boy.

Drop.

Yes. Juice.

That's it. Yes, sir. Good boy. Very nice.

Nemo, he's really excelled
in that retrieving-items command,

as well as learning that tug command.

Hey.

He's animated and loving,
and he enjoys training,

but we still have to see if we feel
that he can do his job reliably.

I always have to say "if"
because nothing is guaranteed.

We have seen him alert bark at times.

[barks]

That is something you can get
kicked out of restaurants, stores,

so that would disqualify him
from becoming a service dog.

[narrator] If Nemo
can't control his barking,

he will not graduate
and be matched with someone in need.

Barking meant something different
before the human-canine bond evolved.

[wolves howl]

[Hecht] So wolves howl as a group.

It's an important
form of social communication for them.

But they don't bark
in the way that dogs do towards humans.

[barking]

Dogs seem to bark in a more emotional way,
potentially to recruit human attention.

[whines, howls]

Some breeds of dogs howl a lot.

If you have a Siberian Husky,
you're probably, like, nodding right now.

[vocalizing]

[man] Good girl.

[vocalizing]

[man] I love you.

[vocalizing]

[dogs howling]

[narrator] Humans are so vocal…

[woman] Guys!

[narrator] …we've helped dogs
to find their voice.

[screeching]

Just like with people, different people
are gonna talk to me in different ways.

[howling]

-[howling]
-A bark is not just a bark.

Some dogs are barkers.

But the change in the tone
can make a difference.

[whining]

Higher stress situations
are going to lead to a higher pitched,

almost distressed kind of bark.

[continuous high-pitched barking]

Repetition at a high pitch
without pausing,

it's generally a state of distress.

[high-pitched barks]

If the dog is barking and pausing,

then it would indicate
there's still some cognitive ability.

[woman] Walter.

[yowling]

-[woman] No.
-[Beisner] There is no bad dog.

There is behavior
that we don't understand,

but the dog's behavior is 100% appropriate
based on its experience in that moment.

[barking]

[narrator] Barking and hyperactivity

are two behaviors that Penn Vet
can actually use to help save lives.

Good girl, Lucky!

The Penn Vet Working Dog Center
originated after the disasters of 9/11.

We realized that there was no science
to really support these amazing dogs

that were doing
the search-and-rescue work.

We needed a program
that we could research the dogs,

we could understand the dogs,

and improve the health,
the well-being, the welfare of these dogs,

and the availability because there weren't
enough of these search-and-rescue dogs

to do the jobs that we're asking for them.

Here at the Working Dog Center,

we're looking
for very, very different types of dogs.

We know, in any litter,
the dogs that won't sit still

really want to work
in detection-type, active jobs.

Anything that dogs do with their noses.

Search and rescue.

[barking]

Nice job!

[Otto] Explosive detection.

Drug detection.

[sniffing]

[Otto] Medical detection.

[sniffing]

[Otto] And so they have to have
the physical strength,

and they have to have
what we call body awareness.

These dogs are climbing ladders,
they're navigating unstable surfaces.

They have to have that strength,
that awareness.

They're almost like gymnasts.

By having the Canimetrics program,
our dogs are physically fit…

[woman] Good job, girly.

[Otto] …which allows them to work
in a safer manner.

We do warm-ups before they do activities.

Good.

[Otto] We actually have dogs doing planks,
which is core-strength training,

and it's amazing what that does
for their abdominal muscles,

their back muscles.

Most dogs in the United States
are actually overweight,

and that shortens their life
up to two years

when we're talking about
10 to 20% overweight.

So it's really important for us
to keep these dogs strong and healthy.

[woman] Good girl. Nice job.

[narrator] In the wild,
wolves don't need calisthenics.

Being fit is the difference
between life and death.

Dogs are both prey and predator.

[dramatic music playing]

So they were trying to escape,
or they had to use that ability to run

in order to chase down food to survive.

[barking]

[Lee] If you look at a greyhound,
compared to other breeds,

they can have 12% more muscle
in their hind limbs than the average dog.

[Draper] A greyhound runs
up to 45 miles an hour.

Pretty impressive.

The average speed of dogs
is about 15 to 20 miles per hour.

Then you have the Basset Hound,

who has the mind-blowing speed
of five miles per hour.

["Ride of the Valkyries"
by Wagner playing]

[music warps]

[narrator] They might not
all be the fastest,

but dogs are nature's elite
high-endurance athletes.

[Lee] Some of these sled dogs that race,
they run 100 miles a day,

and they're only 40 to 50 pounds.

So they have a greater lung capacity,
a faster metabolism,

and a more efficient
cardiovascular system.

[narrator] At rest, a dog's metabolism
is about the same as a human's.

But when they need it,
dogs can shift gear,

recording the highest sustained
metabolic rate of any animal.

It means they use
the same amount of calories

three times more efficiently
than a Tour de France rider.

And when they're done,
they downshift back to rest.

All of our dogs are still wild at heart.

It's not so much the plastic Frisbee.

It's the predatorial drive
to chase something.

[Draper] They don't have collar bones,

which allows them to be more flexible
and change directions really quickly.

They have tails that help balance them,

and they have a very long, flexible spine.

[Lee] As much as we try to get
in the mind of a dog,

of, like, the pathophysiology
of how a dog does it,

it's really split-second decisions
where a dog is chasing whatever it is.

It may be prey, it may be a plastic disc,

but in their mind,
within seconds or milliseconds,

their brain is undergoing computation

where they're figuring out
how far it's gonna go,

what direction, what direction to pivot,

and the ability to turn around

and catch it in their mouth
at the same time.

But not all dogs are created equal
when it comes to catching Frisbees.

[narrator] Dogs all have
their strengths and weaknesses.

It's up to us to nurture them
as individuals.

[Draper] Depending on the breed,
dogs need different types of enrichment

to give them a fulfilled life.

-And stimulate their mind.
-Right.

[narrator] It pays
to let your dog be themselves.

Oh, yeah.

Our dogs work
because they show a desire to work.

Ready? Okay. Release.

[narrator] Peabody, Bonus, and Nemo

have all completed
the first stage of the program.

Speak. Speak.

-Yeah. Yeah. Speak. Yeah.
-[barking]

So we have basic commands,

the sits and the downs
and, you know, all of that.

Impressive. Okay. But can a dog sit
when there's a roller coaster behind them?

[people screaming]

[narrator] It's time for them to take what
they've learned outside the classroom.

[Hutchinson] Field trips
give us a lot of information

about who each dog is.

Good job, buddy.

We are looking for how the dog
thinks, feels, and operates.

[girl] Hi, doggy.

[Hutchinson] We're at Adventureland
with Mr. Peabody here.

It is full of noise…

[people screaming]

[Hutchinson]…distractions.

We want to see if he is able to pay
attention to me in this environment.

Ready. Can you jump?

Yay. Good boy. Nice.

[Lee] When it comes to hearing,
because they hear higher frequencies,

dogs hear four times more than humans do.

[people screaming]

[high-pitched ringing]

[Lee] We're not always cognizant of that
as dog owners.

-[high-pitched ringing]
-[people screaming and laughing]

[Draper] They actually have 18 muscles
in their ears that are used for hearing.

-[people screaming]
-[heavy bass beat playing]

[carousel music playing]

[Draper] You may feel
like it's a quiet day,

but he's hearing this loud sound
from over here,

-this weird sound from over here…
-[people scream]

[bell ringing]

…which is startling, particularly
if he doesn't know where it's coming from,

so you have to take that in consideration

when you're trying to train
and socialize them.

[Hutchinson] Peabody, down. Down.

Yes. Good boy.

Peabody is a very, very stable boy.

[Hutchinson laughs]

I don't think he's bothered.

We like to call 'em "bombproof" dogs.

I'm sure a bomb could probably go off
15 feet away from him.

If he looked back…
That's a big if, uh… [laughs]

…he would be unfazed.

[snores]

[Hutchinson] That is
a very strong quality,

especially when we find the person

that could really benefit
from a dog like this.

[narrator] The more they learn
about how the dogs behave,

the better match they can make
when it's time to pair them with a human.

[people screaming]

Bonus, I wouldn't put him
next to a rollercoaster necessarily.

Bonus, let's go.

He's slightly more noise sensitive.

We are taking Bonus to a restaurant.
There's gonna be a lot of people.

They're probably
going to pay a lot of attention

to the fact that,
"Oh my goodness, there's a dog here."

Not to mention, he's super handsome.

Oh.

Come on, buddy.

He has to ignore the distractions

when he's out in the real world
with his person.

There's going to be trays passing along,
food on the floor.

What I'm looking for is

is he gonna be restless while we're dining
and having a meal and he's not?

All right, buddy. Sit.

Good job, buddy. Good job, buddy.

Bonus, under.

We consider dogs to be
an extension of a person.

Yay. A little bit more.

Which is why positioning
for different things is super important.

If he's neatly tucked away under a table,
or he's under a chair,

he's going to be safe.

He's not gonna get stepped on.

[narrator] Once in position,
Bonus is at ease.

-[sniffing]
-Until the steak comes out.

[tense music playing]

[Hutchinson] We don't want our dogs
going after food that's on the ground.

They might think a pill is food.
It may be toxic.

Nope, nope, nope.

Good.

It takes a lot of self-control for a dog

not to eat a piece of steak
in front of 'em.

These guys want it.
There's no denying that.

Yes, good job. Hi, buddy.

Eye contact is super important.

He's turning away a little bit.

Yes. Good boy.

[sniffs]

We use it as a tool of reinforcement.

Good boy. Nice job.

A dog that checks in can get
positive feedback from the handler.

"Hey, you're doing the right thing."

Good.

Good boy. Yes.

[narrator] When humans aren't involved,

dogs use eye contact
in a very different way.

[sheep bleating]

Border Collies use "the eye"
to control sheep.

The hard stare mimics hunting,

so the sheep flock together

and move to the dog's will.

Wolves do the same,

but they finish the job.

[wolf growls]

Canine vision evolved
to find and track prey.

Rods help see in poorly lit, dark areas.

Dogs have more rods. Because of that,
they have better night vision than we do.

And dogs also have a reflective layer
on the back of their eyes

called the tapetum lucidum.

Light will reflect on it and act
as a flashlight in poorly-lit situations.

Cones are what allow us to see colors,

and humans have
three different types of cones.

Dogs only have two, so dogs don't see
certain colors that we do.

They just only see
in hues of yellow, blue, grayish-brown.

They're much better at things
that are actually moving.

We think that the world's
a little blurrier than what our world is.

They definitely rely on vision,

but they can live without it.

Dogs are built to smell the world.

I like to use the phrase
that dogs smell in color

because it kinda gives us something
that we can relate to

because we use vision
as our primary sense.

[Hutchinson] Nemo.
Let's go, buddy. We got this.

[narrator] Dogs also smell
in three dimensions.

They can make a spatial map of a room
using just their nose.

[sniffing]

[Hutchinson] Supermarkets are
very tempting, challenging places

where food is often at dog level.

There's meat, and there's fish,
and there's produce,

and there's all kinds of things,
but forget about all of that.

[narrator] A dog's nose can detect
millions of different smells.

It even knows
if their owner was here… yesterday.

[sniffing]

The challenge for Nemo,
keep his focus on the trainer,

not the food.

[Hutchinson] Oops. Nemo. Yeah.

You'll get your food later, kiddo.
Let's go.

It's a little bit of a challenge
with Nemo,

especially in aisles
of smelly, wonderful things

that any dog
would love to sink their teeth into.

It's very easy for Nemo
to veer off and want to sniff.

No fish. Come on, buddy.

So what I'm looking for
is that Nemo keeps his attention on me,

because in the real world,
his person is going to need him

regardless of what is going on.

[narrator] While not every dog
is welcome in a supermarket,

every dog can benefit
from learning to control their impulses.

[man] Yo, that dog's totally gonna steal
that guy's pizza.

[women laughing]

The anatomy of a dog's nose

is designed to allow the dog
to experience the world through odor.

[sniffs]

The nostrils themselves are designed
so that about 10 to 15% of this air

goes directly to what we call
the olfactory epithelium,

the part of the nose
that receives information about odor.

It's a labyrinth.

There are just huge amounts
of nooks and crannies

where all of these little cells
that capture odor are sitting.

The dog has more types of these cells
than humans do,

a higher density of these cells,
and a higher absolute number.

That information is processed
in their cortex.

When they exhale, it goes out to the sides
through the little slits,

and that's a really important component

'cause they can breathe and smell
all at the same time.

[sniffs, grunts]

[woman] Search.

[narrator] This remarkable nose
can also be used to save a life.

[sniffing]

[clicks clicker] Yay-hay-hay-hay!

So we have several tools that we use
when we're training a dog.

We have the scent wall.

So these are just ports.

On the back side,
we can insert the source of the odor,

and the dog will have to learn
to very systematically search that wall

to identify where the odor is.

That translates to how they will search

to identify contraband or hazard
that might be out there.

From a training perspective,
we put out what we call "distractors"

to see will it interfere with their focus

so that it actually diminishes
their ability to use their nose

because they're distracted?

[woman clicks clicker]
Good boy! Wa-ha-haw!

[Otto] When we think about our dogs,

we really think of them
as being extraordinary.

And the thing that stops my heart
every time I see it

is when a dog goes out
into the rubble pile…

and can see that there's masses of people

working and standing
and on that rubble pile.

And they go,
"Okay, you, you, you, you're all fine,

but I smell somebody else."

And they can't see them.

[barking]

[barking]

[Otto] How they can find
a concealed person,

someone who would,
in a real disaster situation, be trapped…

-[barking]
-[Otto] …is just mind-blowing.

[barking]

[barking]

[woman] Yes! Woo-hoo-hoo!

We don't have any equipment
that can match the dog's ability,

their speed, and their accuracy
in finding these concealed people

whose lives really depend
on being found quickly.

[barking]

And that is a superpower.

[reporter]
When the 7.8 magnitude earthquake

rocked Turkey and Syria,

Colin the Collie, a member of the UK's
International Search and Rescue Team,

spent ten days
in one of Turkey's hardest-hit areas.

Dogs are responsible
for 11 successful rescues.

[Otto] Dogs have been used for scent work
for centuries,

but it's only been more recently
that dogs have been used

to help us identify odors
associated with disease.

Cancer is probably the one disease
that has received the most attention.

All right, Amritha,
what do we have Osa doing today?

So Osa is going to find
our cancer-detection training odor

on our eight-port scent-detection wheel,

the same wheel we use
for our Covid-detection studies.

-[woman] Ready, Osa?
-[yips]

[woman] Search!

[Otto] With cancer detection, we take
a blood sample from a person with cancer.

We ask the dog first to sniff that sample.

-And then we click a little clicker…
-[clicker clicks]

-Good girl!
-[Otto] …and they get a treat.

-Nice job, Oss!
-[Otto] We do that a couple of times.

Then, all of a sudden,
there's another sample,

and here's that healthy patient.

When they put their nose on the sample
that is not from the patient with cancer,

they don't get their reward.

[woman] Ready, Osa? Search.

[Otto] The dogs are constantly processing
the information, they're adapting,

and they're able to parse out
the relevant odors

and recognize that this is the cancer.

-[clicker clicks]
-[woman] Good girl!

Yes. Good job, Osa.

Even if people have a different diet,
come from different ethnic backgrounds,

if they're from a different geography,

a lot of times,
the machines get confused by that.

-[sniffing]
-[clicker clicks]

-[woman 1] Good girl.
-[woman 2] Good job.

So there's something very amazing
about the dog's brain

and their processing ability.

[panting]

So what happens
if there's no target odor in the wheels?

So if the wheel doesn't contain
any target substance,

what they do is they will jump
on this platform right here,

and they'll sit,

and that tells us that they have sniffed
all of the samples on the wheel,

and they don't believe
any of them to be the target sample.

-So like an all-clear signal.
-Mm-hmm.

[sniffing]

[Amritha] Diseases like cancer
have really low incidence rates,

so we want to make sure

that the dogs are willing to pass
a lot of negative samples.

-[clicker clicks]
-[woman] Good girl.

[laughter]

[woman] Good job.

[laughter continues]

[narrator] Dogs can smell cancer,
diabetes, even Parkinson's.

They can smell our mood.

Adrenaline.

They can even smell our stress.

Being able to pick up
on such minute changes is a superpower.

She came up and put her nose on my belly,

and I knew in my gut
that something was wrong.

Sierra was telling me
I had ovarian cancer.

I believe she saved my life.

[Hecht] We all experience attachment bonds
with the dogs in our households.

Dogs are bonded to us.
We're bonded to them.

At Harvard University, we're looking
at the formation of attachment bonds

between dogs and children.

[narrator] Turns out our bond
is more than just skin deep.

Cortisol is a hormone that bodies release
during stressful experiences.

When people have
an attachment bond with a dog,

the presence of that bonded partner
can buffer that bump in cortisol

that occurs during a stressful event.

Interactions between dogs and humans

also cause release of a hormone
called oxytocin in both species.

This is a hormone that is involved
in the formation of social bonds

and the feeling of positive interactions
with an attachment partner.

[narrator] Dogs create
attachment bonds with us

as if they themselves are humans.

At Canine Companions,

this attachment bond is the key
to making a successful match.

[woman] Dress.

[narrator] The dogs have mastered
the basics in the classroom

and taken what they've learned
into the real world.

Now the trainers have decided that seven
of the 11 dogs in the current class

have passed stage two.

They're ready to move on to the final
and most important stage,

building a bond with someone in need.

[woman] All right, guys,
welcome to pre-matches.

All of the trainers have met together,
talked about the dogs, their puppyhood,

everything that you guys have given us,

and we have made our best guesses

of what dog will be best pre-matched
with you guys.

[narrator] Seven potential recipients
from all over the Northeast

have been invited to Canine Companions
to meet these seven dogs.

All the trainers have been together…

[narrator] If the dog and the person
can form an attachment bond,

they will go home together.

It can take time
for a dog to adjust to a new owner,

but kindness and consistency
help ease the transition.

This is the beginning
of your relationship,

so please remember to keep
your expectations and consistency

as you continue to work with your dog.

No googly eyes at the dogs next to you.

Please give everything, all of your all,
to the dog that's in front of you.

We want the relationship to start now.

All right, are we ready?

-[man] Yeah.
-[girl] Yes.

[woman] Awesome.

James, you have been pre-matched
with black Lab-golden cross, Biro.

-[man] All right.
-[cheering and applause]

[woman laughs]

[woman] You can hold that leash.

[gentle, emotive music playing]

[woman] Christy, you have been matched
with Goldie the Fifth.

[applause]

-[laughter]
-[woman] Aww.

[girl] Doggy kisses.

[woman] And Jaz,
we didn't forget about you!

You've been matched
with yellow Lab-golden cross, Bonus.

[man] Bonus.

-[cheering and applause]
-[woman laughs]

Thank you. Sure.

Hi, Bonus!

[laughing]

[woman] Congratulations, everybody.

You can take a few minutes.
Go ahead and love on those dogs.

[man] Who is that?

Can you say "Bonus"?

Bonus.

-[Sandy] You can say Bonus.
-[man] All right.

Good job.

And action!

Yeah boy!

Mother and dad.

This is my mom and dad.

-Tell us a little bit about Jazzy.
-B… uh, b…

'Cause she's kind of
a knucklehead sometimes.

Oh, I…

You're mean.

-[laughs]
-My dad.

[Jazmin's dad] So Jaz, actually,
when she was born,

we had complications from day one.

And she spent a lot of time in the NICU.

-She has trouble with talking.
-Hi.

She can say, "Hi."

She comprehends everything.

Humor, sarcasm, she gets it all,

but her ability to communicate to you
is a challenge.

She needs a dog. She has to have a dog.

It is one of those imperatives
for her life.

[indistinct chattering]

[girl laughing]

[narrator] The dogs
that didn't get picked…

will still have a chance to change lives.

[Hutchinson] We have decided, unanimously,

that Mr. Peabody will do very, very well

with a veteran who has PTSD.

A steady, calming presence
is the type of work he enjoys,

is the type of work
that he has excelled at.

Let's go.

And that's the best fit for him.

[laughs]

[narrator] As for Nemo,
he's cut out for something different.

Nemo, no.

We definitely don't call it failing
because these dogs are amazing.

But Nemo,
he didn't make it through our program.

-[barks]
-No.

So we give him the opportunity
to live a different life.

He's gonna make one heck of a pet dog.

The puppy raiser, the family that put
all their time and love into them

for the first year and a half
of their lives,

they have the opportunity
to adopt the dog back.

[bright music playing]

-Hey, Nemo!
-Nemo!

How ya doing, puppy? Huh?

[narrator] Adopting a sweet boy like Nemo
is a no-brainer.

[man exclaims]

How have you guys been?

[female owner] I know.
It's so exciting. It's so exciting.

[woman] We are actually gonna go
right into our first practice of the day,

and we're gonna start to work
with these dogs and build the bond. Okay?

[narrator] For the dogs that are matched,
it's two intensive weeks.

Mark with that "yes" when he looks at Jaz.

-Bonus.
-Yes.

[Jazmin] Here.

[narrator] In order for Bonus
to go home with Jazmin,

they need to build a bond by graduation.

Look him in the eye there.

-Bonus.
-Yes.

[narrator] The best way to nurture
any new relationship,

stay positive and learn to communicate.

When you want a dog to be consistent,
reliable, be your partner…

We literally make partnerships.

Good boy. Good boy.

Really nice.

[Hutchinson] Communication is
extraordinarily important.

He might not know
he's communicating to you,

but he's always communicating to you.

For us to communicate to the dog,
we've gotta learn how to talk dog,

and that's how this whole program works.

[narrator] Now researchers
are studying to see

if dogs can actually learn to talk human.

[automated voice] Play.

[woman] Okay, we'll play.

When you communicate with somebody
of another species, it's mind blowing.

Imagine if you had
to communicate to a turtle.

Like, I wouldn't even start imagining
what it means to communicate with them.

[automated voice] Scritches.

[woman] You want some scritches?

Yeah, there you go.
There's some scritches.

[Rossano] I'm trying to train pets
to learn symbols, words,

as a window into their minds,

so that we can learn something
about what they're thinking, experiencing,

and able to communicate
about their emotions too.

Hey.

[dog whimpers]

[robotic voice]

The devices that we use for this study
are an adaptation of devices

that are being used
with nonverbal humans for a long time,

and we call it augmented interspecies
communication devices.

-[automated voice] Pea… Pea… Peanut.
-[woman] Mm-hmm.

-[automated voice] Peanut. Peanut.
-[yips]

[Rossano] There's been research,
for example, with primates

with a similar device called a lexigram,

where you have symbols that when you push,
they'll produce a sound or a word

that humans can understand.

But usually, the studies are conducted
with one or two individuals.

We have 10,000 dogs from 47 countries.

The ones who have the most buttons
are around 150.

They've been in the study
a couple of years.

-[automated voice] Snuffle mat.
-[woman] You want your snuffle mat? Okay.

[woman] Parker's two and a half years old,

and she has been using
the buttons to communicate

for almost two years,
since she was six months old.

These are the buttons that Parker uses.

So each of them have,
like, a little design.

And when you press it,
the audio comes from the base there

that it's Bluetooth linked to.

[automated voice] Outside.

Parker both will ask me questions
and respond to questions

that I ask her
either verbally or using the buttons.

[automated voice] What Parker want? Hmm?

Stick.

[woman] Yeah! Okay, more stick.

The way that she uses it as a means
to communicate with me in a deeper way

really accentuates
our relationship overall.

[automated voice]

[woman]

I think you can get caught up
in, like, "Oh, dog people are crazy."

"They just think dogs are little people."

But, yeah, just imagine
being a scientist for a minute.

[automated voice]

[Hare] And you're trying to understand
how non-human animals think.

And so the question is now becoming,

"Well, how sophisticated
is their communication gonna become

now that they've got this new way
to talk to their human family members?"

So I don't know!
We're gonna see what's possible here.

It's gonna be fun.

[siren wails]

[automated voice]

[Rossano] Trying to combine
three, four buttons,

they can produce a sentence
to communicate novel concepts.

That's the thing
that fascinates me the most.

[automated voice]

[woman 1] He says, "Shut up.
I want to take a nap."

[laughter]

[woman 2] Fashion is my first dog.

We've been doing this for three years now.

As far as the buttons are concerned,

I definitely think that they have helped
build our relationship.

I really think
that there's a level of validation

in my understanding
of what I already think he wants,

and just that communication
because of these words.

I have a one-year-old as well.

And for a long time,
was just crying whenever he wasn't happy.

But now he can tell me
"water" and "cracker"

and "Mama" and "Dada,"
and so can call for help.

Those five, six words
already have changed my life.

Imagine having 200 words.

That's the thing that excites me.

It's like, if we can get a little window
into a dog's mind,

that would be fantastic.

[narrator] The average dog
can learn 165 words.

[dog whimpers]

The smartest dog on record, Chaser,
knew more than a thousand words.

I think that the types of intelligence
that different dogs have can really vary,

just like different people
have different types of intelligence.

[woman] Sailor, what happened?
Sailor, what happened?

Sailor.

Sailor, what happened?

I don't know if I'd call any dogs dumb.
That doesn't seem quite fair. [laughs]

[narrator] Smart or not,
all dogs do some unusual things.

Puppies often chase their tail because
they don't know it's a part of them.

Some experts believe
that dogs like to poop facing north.

Scientists believe dogs do dream…

-[dog barks]
-[narrator] …often about their owner.

[woman] Daisy, are you dreaming?

[laughter]

[narrator] Researchers at Harvard
are working to decode

why dogs do the things they do.

[Hecht] We're trying to find out
what's going on inside dogs' minds

through a combination
of behavior testing and also MRI scans.

[gentle music playing]

[machine beeping]

[Hecht] So this is the hypothalamus.

The hypothalamus is a brain region

that is involved in, um,
what we think of as the four Fs.

Feeding,

fighting,

fleeing,

and reproduction.

And it's crucially involved
in the flight-or-fight response.

[narrator] This brain region
also helps determine personality,

why some dogs are fearless
and others timid.

[Hecht] Along with MRI studies,
our life-experiences study

is looking at the effects
of early-life stress in dogs.

Our preliminary results indicate
early-life stress

does influence fear and aggression
behavior later in life in dogs.

Dogs definitely experience anxiety.

[dog whines]

[narrator] As many as 70% of dogs
suffer some form of anxiety.

It can come from early life experience.

And sometimes you're just born with it.

[Hecht] A state of stress or worry or fear
is a very primal, ancestral emotion.

I think anybody that has a dog probably
has experienced their dog feeling anxious,

and it's easy to interpret and empathize.

[narrator] One of the most common
canine anxieties happens when we leave.

-If you could ask her to stay in here.
-Townsend, sit.

[Hecht] We do a behavior test
where the owner leaves the room,

so the dog is left alone.

If the dog experiences separation anxiety,

it's probably going to come out
in that situation.

And so we watch the dog carefully,

and if it seems like they're starting
to show signs of distress,

we have the owner go back.

Some dogs are completely mellow.

They might sniff around
or maybe curl up and take a nap.

And, um, other dogs really
are, you know, barking or howling

or scratching at the door.

I think this kind of gives us a window
into what dogs are doing

when we're not there.

[narrator] Anxiety can cause
aggression, depression,

even destructive behavior.

[growling]

[panting]

[narrator] Luckily,
some of the same things

that relieve stress in humans

can also work for dogs.

["Flower Duet" by Delibes playing]

[Hecht] There was one study
that looked at dogs' affective responses

to classical music
and other types of music.

Preliminary data suggested classical music
might have a calming effect on dogs

and rock music
might have the opposite effect.

I think this is an area
where more research could be helpful.

[narrator] Often, nothing relieves
your dog's anxiety more

than you coming home.

[barks]

The more time you spend together,

the stronger the attachment grows.

[barking]

[woman] All right,
so I'm gonna start heading in.

I'm gonna stop, say "Okay."

As you go by, you're gonna do this,
you're gonna that.

[narrator] Jazmin and her family
have spent the past two weeks with Bonus.

It's time for them to take the final test
and prove they've built a bond.

Bonus, let's go.

One of the challenging final exam tests

is to walk the dog
through an obstacle course

with no leash, no nothing,
just talking to the animal.

Bonus, get.

Get. Come on.

There it is. Yes.

Bonus, let's go.

Bonus, jump.

Yes.

-[woman] Good job.
-Give.

-Good job.
-[woman] Very good.

Jaz, praise your dog if he's doing good.

-Yeah!
-Good boy.

[woman] Booty scratches!

-Very nice.
-You ready?

Bonus. [kisses] Tug.

Come on. Come on.

This. Tug.

Come on.

Whoops. Tug.

[woman] Yeah, there you go, Jaz.

-Yeah. Tug.
-[Jazmin's dad] Tug.

[woman] Yay! We'll take it.

Bonus, push.

-Good boy! Good boy!
-[cheering and applause]

Jaz, take a bow. [chuckles]

[Sandy] He was phenomenal.

He absolutely knows his job,
and he absolutely knows us

because he stuck with you guys
the whole time.

Yeah.

-Just give him a little kissy.
-[Jazmin] Mmmm!

[laughter]

[narrator] It's official.
Bonus has passed.

But before he's done,
there's one last symbolic moment.

[Hutchinson] Before graduation,
the dogs see the puppy raiser

who loved them
for a year and a half of their lives

so they can get some quality time.

Hi, Bonus!

-Hi, baby!
-[woman 1] Who's that?

Oh, yes.

Oh, my buddy. I missed you.

[Hutchinson] They're still dogs
at the end of the day.

They have a past. They have history.

[woman 2] Come here, Berkley!

Hey! Berkley, it's me!

[Hare] The stories of the soldier
coming home after years.

[woman 3] Zeke, go look who's here.

[Hare] You know, we all wanna know…

[dog barks]

…does the dog remember?

[barking]

[woman 2] Hey, Berkley, it's me.

Usually, it takes them a second or two
to, "Is this right? Is this…?"

[barks]

It's me. It's…

[Hare] And best evidence is…

Look, it's me.

[Hare] …they do.

Yeah!

[laughs]

Then they go berserk.

[woman 2] Hi!

[man 1] Now he knows ya. Now he knows ya.

Hi, Ruthie!

[man 2] Hey! Come here.

[woman 4 laughing]

[woman 5 squeals]

[Hare] Dogs certainly can remember
what different dogs

that they've encountered
early in their life smell like for years,

and people too.

[speaking indistinctly]

[narrator] Our bond is unlike
any interspecies relationship on Earth.

Yay.

[narrator] But do they actually love us?

Yeah, I think dogs love us. Um…

I think that dogs' experience of love

might be different
than the human experience of love.

[baby cries]

[Hecht] Dogs show some form
of emotional contagion.

They can respond appropriately

to the emotions of other individuals
in their social group.

[Woods] They're family.
They absolutely love you.

[girl sobs]

[Woods] That's why
they're doing that weird eye thing

when they're just kind of staring at you.

They're just hugging you with their eyes.

That interspecies connectedness
is, like, quite amazing.

So, absolutely, they love us.

[Hutchinson] I think
that with the right relationship,

if a dog feels safe,
confident around its human,

if a dog becomes happy
when they see their human,

if a dog enjoys petting from their human,

eh, I can call that love.

That's how I love people.

I'll call that love.

On behalf of Team Bonus, my wife,
and the entire graduating class,

we truly wanna say thank you to everyone.

You know, nine years ago,
we were here with Jazmin,

and she could barely talk.

She never engaged with anybody.

And that was when we met our first dog.

And it has made
all the difference in the world.

Every day I see her strength and patience

and her incredible spirit…

…and her incredible spirit
that lifts up everyone she meets.

It's why you puppy raisers do it.

It's what is so special
about this entire program.

[cheering and applause]

These dogs change families
in unimaginable ways.

[applause]

[Jazmin's dad] Good boy. Bonus, sit.

[automated voice] I love Bonus.

Nice.

So when you realize how amazing dogs are
and all that they do for us…

Here, boy.

[Hare] …the question then becomes,
"Well, what could we do to be better?"

What we can learn about dogs
is it's better to be friendly.

[woman] Hi! You're so cute.

[Woods] It means
survival of the friendliest

is a very powerful strategy.

[woman] Yeah!

[Woods] Dogs will accept you no matter
who you are or where you come from,

and they have bridged
an entire species divide.

♪ Oh, the happy dog ♪

[Woods] And they can live with us
in perfect harmony.

Dogs are such a great example
of what true acceptance looks like.

That is gospel truth.
You don't need science to know that.

[upbeat music playing]

Buddy.

[girls screaming and exclaiming]

[Draper] I just wanna be a French bulldog.
I wanna lay around and eat,

and go out and poo,
then come back and lay down in the sun

and have somebody pet me for about
five minutes and then leave me alone.

If I'm a French bulldog,
I'll figure it out.