Do our pets care about us? - 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from

BBC Learning English. I'm Sam.

And I'm Neil. Sam, do you remember

an old children's television

show called 'Lassie'?

Yes, I grew up watching the

adventures of schoolboy, Timmy,

and his pet dog, a collie named

Lassie. Whenever Timmy got lost

or into trouble, Lassie sensed

danger and came to the rescue.

If you believe shows like 'Lassie',

pets know when their human owners

feel afraid or in danger. But in

real life do animals know, or

care, about human feelings?

Now, Neil, obviously we're not

talking about wild animals, right?

We're talking about domesticated

animals - types of animals which are

under human control and have been

living closely with people for

centuries. They include pets,

like cats and dogs, working

animals and farm animals,

like cows and sheep.

So, what about dogs like our friend,

Lassie? Do you think they can

sense human feelings?

It's hard to know what's really

going on behind a dog's big,

brown eyes. Unlike humans, pets

can't talk to say how they're

feeling, and this makes it easy

for us to misunderstand them.

People often anthropomorphize

their pets - treat them as if

they were human by giving

them human characteristics.

In cartoons, Micky Mouse can

talk and Donald Duck dances and

sings, but we know mice and

ducks don't really

do that in nature.

Exactly. But recently, new

research has suggested that

sometimes pets do respond to

their owner's feelings.

OK. Well, before we find out

more, I have a quiz question

for you, Neil. 'Lassie' wasn't

the only TV show to feature a

boy and his pet companion.

A similar show, Skippy, was set

in Australia - but what type of

animal was the star? Was Skippy:

a) a rabbit? b) a frog? or,

c) a kangaroo?

Well, if Skippy was Australian,

I'll guess he's c) a kangaroo.

OK, I'll reveal the answer later in

the programme. Now,

Neil, earlier you

mentioned that because animals

can't speak, it's difficult to know

their feelings about us.

Difficult, yes ... but not

impossible. Recently, anthrozoologist,

Dr Karen Hiestand, designed an

experiment to test whether

our pets really do care about us.

She filmed pet owners pretending

to be hurt and observed the

reactions of their dogs and cats.

Here's Adrian Washbourne, producer

for BBC World Service programme,

Health Check, pretending to

hurt his leg at home, where he

lives with his two pets,

a cat and a dog.

And now I'm going to fake an

injury, and we'll see how

they respond. Ouch! Ow!

Well, the tail wagging has

got a bit more, there's a bit

of a yawn. I don't think they

were particularly sensitive or

bothered that I was squealing

around the floor in agony,

holding my leg up in the air,

trying to feign an injury.

Meanwhile the cat, who's

on the windowsill, is

looking at me with wide eyes.

Adrian didn't really hurt his

leg - he feigned, or pretended,

to be hurt. He pretended to be

in agony - extreme physical

pain, to see what his

pets would do.

Adrian's dog wagged his tail

and gave a yawn. The cat,

meanwhile, just looked at

him with wide eyes...

Little evidence of pets

showing care or concern there,

you might think. But,

according to Dr Hiestand,

the animals' behaviour makes

perfect sense when you

remember where they came

from. Dogs are descended

from ancient breeds of

wolves - very social animals

who live together in packs,

so it makes sense that a dog

would sniff and come closer

to investigate what

was happening.

Cats, on the other hand,

are solitary creatures,

descended from wild cats who

lived and hunted alone.

Dr Hiestand thinks this explains

the reaction of Adrian's cat,

as she told BBC World Service

programme, Health Check.

What we're seeing typically

is cats staying much more still...

that they're looking and looking

at their owner, so they're

definitely paying their owner

an awful lot of attention when

they're displaying a negative

distress emotion, comparing to

during the control procedure

where they're just doing cat

things – walking around,

grooming... that kind of thing.

The experiment showed the

different responses of cats

and dogs to human distress -

feelings of worry, sadness or pain.

In the experiment, dogs were

visibly concerned, while cats

simply paid more attention to

what was going on. Some cats

did nothing except carry on

grooming - cleaning themselves

using their tongue and paws.

The experiment confirms the idea

we have of cats being

cold and antisocial.

And of dogs being our best

friend. But according to

Dr Hiestand’s findings, cats

also feel human distress - they

just show it in a different way.

Well, if the experiment

included Lassie, he'd probably

phone the emergency services,

then make Adrian a cup of tea!

Ha! And what about, Skippy?

Ah yes, in my quiz question

I asked Neil about the

Australian TV star, Skippy.

I guessed that he was

c) a kangaroo.

Which was the correct answer!

Over two metres high and able

to jump nine metres in a

single hop, you'd be in safe

hands with Skippy the Kangaroo.

Right, let's recap the

vocabulary from this programme

starting with domesticated - a

word to describe animals

which are not wild and live

under human control.

To anthropomorphize means to

give animals human qualities

and characteristics.

If you feign illness, you

pretend to be ill when

you are not.

To be in agony means to be

in extreme physical pain.

Someone who's in distress,

feels worry, pain or sadness.

And finally, grooming is how

some animals clean themselves

using their tongue and paws.

That's all the time we have

for this programme.

Bye for now!

Goodbye!