Siblings

Cuteness of Puppies Explained

There are over a billion dogs on earth and they are all adorable even if 85 percent are considered to be feral.

It turns out, if they are cute enough, humans can adopt them. A new study recently provided some insight into how dogs evolved with humans.

Run like the wind.

Researchers Clive Wynne at Arizona State, Nadine Chersini at Utrecht University, and Nathan Hall at Texas Tech University brought in 51 college students and asked them to rate the attractiveness of headshots of puppies at different ages.

They showed photos of three different breeds of dogs, and they all aged between 3 months and 7 months old.

Curious look

The study showed that while each breed reached peak cuteness at different ages (between 6 and 8 weeks old), they also all saw a significant increase in cuteness around 30 weeks of age. 

Little corgi

Wynne was also impressed with the study and would like to see similar ones conducted in the future.He said:

White girl

“If this has any meaning in dogs’ and people’s lives, then it would be the actual physical moving animal that people would be seeing. Around seven or eight weeks of age, just as their mother is getting sick of them and is going to kick them out of the den and they’re going to have to make their own way in life, at that age, that is exactly when they are most attractive to human beings.”

Fur babies

Most of the researchers assumed that since most dogs are weaned at around 6 weeks old, that would be the time when they are the cutest. 

So, what do people consider cute?

Why so cute?

According to the study, it’s the “big, forward-facing eyes, floppy and unstable limbs, and a soft, rounded body shape. We’re also keen to squeal when animals have large heads in comparison to their bodies.”

But whatever they look like, you can never resist the charm of these puppies. 

“There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.”

- Ben Williams