Does Your Dog Catch Yawns?   |  Jan 26th 2009  |   6
Contributions  I am amazed continuously by my pal Buster's
ability to be my friend. With the exception of baths and nail
trims, he not only is willing to do whatever I desire; he
actively enjoys doing anything that I happen to be doing.
Hanging out is his raison d'etre.  Dogs have a remarkable innate
ability to provide companionship to people. And, an article that
I found last year on LiveScience shows that dogs may have an
ability to express empathy that goes beyond what many people,
including dog lovers, had suspected.  Nobody understands exactly
why humans and animals yawn. I have heard people posit that
yawning helps to stretch the jaw, or open airways in the lungs,
or form bonds between members of society (through contagious
yawning). It generally is accepted by experts that the ability
to catch yawns from another individual is a sign of empathy. The
article discussed a study that showed dogs catch human yawns.
For the . . . study, the furry cast incl