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!