What Science Reveals About the Adorable Appeal of Puppies

There’s no denying it – puppies are adorable. No matter the breed or variety, all puppies seem irresistibly adorable to most humans. So why do puppies seem so appealing? Science offers us insights into why this phenomenon occurs.
Puppies Evoke a Caring Response Puppies depend on us for caregiving, exuding baby-like characteristics that tug at our hearts just like newborn babies do. Their sweet features trigger our protective instincts and make us want to protect them as best we can.
Puppies’ heads often appear larger than they should when compared with their bodies, and this trait seems endearing to humans. Philosophers such as Darwin and John Bowlby suggested that our feelings when looking at puppies or babies may be part of our attachment system.
Puppies Awaken Our Reward System
Exploring puppies has an incredible effect on our brains on a neural level and activates our reward system. Just seeing one cute puppy makes us want to reward ourselves with fuzzy feelings, while they also engender empathy and feelings of goodwill; just like with babies, all we want is for all those we spend time with to be safe and happy.

Puppies Are Completely Harmless
A puppy cannot do anything to harm you, making them safe to interact with. Their looks alone make them attractive; but their innocent actions further add to their adorableness; sitting quietly is enough for many, but when that puppy rolls over or cuddles up in your lap your heart melts even further!
Puppies Can Induce Cute Aggression in People
A recent Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience journal study explored how our minds create something called cute aggression when viewing cute things such as babies and puppies. According to this research, our minds create it to counteract an overwhelming feeling of love or care when viewing cute items – for instance if we became so immersed in our love for a cute puppy that it became impossible for us to care for it, the poor creature might ultimately die as a result of neglect on our part.

Therefore, cuteness aggression helps us remain balanced so we’re not overwhelmed with adorableness; rather we can focus on caring for the pup in an efficient and responsible manner. However, cute aggression shouldn’t be taken to mean harming any objects we find cute – rather it could mean thoughts like, “That puppy is so adorable, I could eat it!”

Cuteness Helps Puppies Succeed
In a small study conducted to understand when puppies are most attractive to humans, three breeds were involved: Cane Corso, Jack Russell Terrier and White Shepherds. People participating were shown photos of these pups at various ages of life while being monitored; as anticipated they preferred looking at 8 week-old pups most.

At this age, puppies are generally leaving their mother’s den and expected to fend for themselves. Researchers believe humans instinctively understand that puppies of this age require nurturing and care in order to survive; hence their cute appearance could be nature’s way of making sure that they can survive when humans are around.
Final Thoughts
There may be many reasons for our attraction to adorable animals like puppies! Thanks to our compassionate ideals and nurturing instincts, we are able to turn the love we feel when seeing a cute puppy into tangible interactions such as petting, snuggling, feeding and otherwise caring for him/her.