Puppy Cuteness Is Perfectly Timed to Manipulate Humans

Puppy(ˈpəpē) Cuteness(ˈkyo͞otnəs) Is Perfectly Timed to Manipulate(məˈnipyəˌlāt) Humans

Dogs become most irresistible(ˌi(r)rəˈzistəb(ə)l) to people just when they need us most.

By Sarah(ˈse(ə)rə) Elizabeth(əˈlizəbəTH) Adler(ˈadlər, ˈäd-)

“All puppies are cute,” explains(ikˈsplān) Clive(klīv) Wynne, the head of Arizona(ˌarəˈzōnə) State University’s canine(ˈkāˌnīn)-science(ˈsīəns) laboratory(ˈlabrəˌtôrē). “But not all puppies are equally(ˈēkwəlē) cute.” Indeed, breeders(ˈbrēdər) have long found that puppies become their cutest selves at the eight-week mark; any older, and some breeders offer a discount to bolster(ˈbōlstər) would-be owners’ weakened desire. Such fine-tuned(t(y)o͞on) preferences(ˈpref(ə)rəns) might seem arbitrary(ˈärbiˌtrerē), even cruel(ˈkro͞oəl). But recent research indicates(ˈindəˌkāt) that peak(pēk) puppy cuteness serves important purposes—and might play a fundamental role in binding dog and owner together.

In a study published this spring, Wynne and his colleagues(ˈkälēɡ) sought to pin down, scientifically(ˌsīənˈtifik(ə)lē), the timeline of puppy cuteness. Their finding largely(ˈlärjlē) matched that of breeders: People consistently rated(rāt) dogs most attractive(əˈtraktiv) when they were six to eight weeks old. This age, Wynne says, coincides(ˈkōənˌsīd,ˌkōənˈsīd) with a crucial(ˈkro͞oSHəl) developmental milestone(ˈmīlˌstōn): Mother dogs stop nursing(ˈnərsiNG) their young around the eighth week, after which pups rely on humans for survival(sərˈvīvəl). (Puppies without human caretakers face mortality(môrˈtalətē) rates of up to 95 percent in their first year of life.) Peak(pēk) cuteness, then, is no accident(ˈaksidənt)—at exactly(igˈzak(t)lē) the moment when our intervention(ˌintərˈvenCHən) matters most, puppies become irresistible(ˌiriˈzistəbəl) to us.

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https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/11/survival-of-the-cutest/570799/