WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Do Dogs Get Embarrassed When We Put Them in Costumes?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbomb here with a classic episode from our archives.

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<v Speaker 1>In this one, we answer what is perhaps the most

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<v Speaker 1>important question in these our social media times? Are dogs

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<v Speaker 1>actually embarrassed when we put them in those adorable costumes?

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, I'm Lauren Vogelbomb, and I suspect that

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<v Speaker 1>some of you love dogs, some of you might even

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<v Speaker 1>like dressing them up for warmth or fun. Halloween costumes,

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<v Speaker 1>holiday outfits, birthday dresses, boots, scarves, wigs, painted nails, more boots.

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<v Speaker 1>Some of these outfits are decidedly sillier than anything their

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<v Speaker 1>owners would wear, which leads us to the question of

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<v Speaker 1>the day. Do dogs get embarrassed when we dress them up?

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<v Speaker 1>In humans, embarrassment is an emotion, just like love, guilt, sadness, fear,

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<v Speaker 1>or happiness. When someone we know dies, we feel sorrow.

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<v Speaker 1>When people make fun of us, we feel humiliated or embarrassed.

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<v Speaker 1>When something good happens, we feel happiness. Humans have six

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<v Speaker 1>basic emotions love, joy, surprise, anger, sadness, and fear. Some

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<v Speaker 1>researchers argue that we display only four basics, happy, sad,

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<v Speaker 1>a combo of afraid and surprised, and a combo of

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<v Speaker 1>angry and disgusted, but that's a topic for another day.

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<v Speaker 1>Whichever set you go by, these primary emotions then branch

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<v Speaker 1>out to secondary emotions such as pride, relief, and optimism.

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<v Speaker 1>Tertiary emotions include excitement, loneliness, and embarrassment. Yet emotions are fleeting,

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<v Speaker 1>They last for only a brief time. We don't stay

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<v Speaker 1>embarrassed forever, or at the very least, we shouldn't. In humans,

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<v Speaker 1>Embarrassment is a so called self conscious emotion, just like guilt.

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<v Speaker 1>We get embarrassed when we trip or fall, when we

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<v Speaker 1>burp at the dinner table, or spill a cup of

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<v Speaker 1>coffee on a nice white shirt as a crowd of

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<v Speaker 1>people look on. But do dogs feel the same emotions

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<v Speaker 1>that we do. It's a good question, and one that

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<v Speaker 1>scientists have been welling over for you years. If you're

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<v Speaker 1>a dog owner, there's no question that dogs become emotional.

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<v Speaker 1>They wag their tail when they're happy, they look guilty,

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<v Speaker 1>ears back head down when they pee on the rug

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<v Speaker 1>or chew a book to shreds. We also know that

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<v Speaker 1>they can get jealous of a new addition to the house,

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<v Speaker 1>like a baby or another dog, or of the cat

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<v Speaker 1>who claims their favorite person's lap. Still, many scientists have

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<v Speaker 1>yet to come to grips with the idea that dogs

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<v Speaker 1>experience emotions like humans. While some argue that dogs do

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<v Speaker 1>feel a range of emotions, guilt may not be one

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<v Speaker 1>of them. Instead, dogs may simply be reacting to their

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<v Speaker 1>owner's body language. In the opinion of some, dogs experience

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<v Speaker 1>only instant reaction emotions fear, joy sadness, and anger, which

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<v Speaker 1>brings us back to whether dogs get embarrassed. Their scale

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<v Speaker 1>is certainly different if they do, given that they don't

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<v Speaker 1>have our hang ups and thus aren't embarrassed by things

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<v Speaker 1>that would mortify most humans, like getting caught scratching or

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<v Speaker 1>licking decidedly in delicate itches in public. We spoke via

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<v Speaker 1>email with doctor Jessica Pierce, a bioethicist who has written

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<v Speaker 1>extensively on the psychology of dogs and cats. She said,

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<v Speaker 1>as far as I know, there's been no systematic research

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<v Speaker 1>into whether or not dogs feel embarrassment, but I would

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<v Speaker 1>guess that they do. That said, when we dress them

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<v Speaker 1>up as lobsters or Donald Trump for Halloween and they

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<v Speaker 1>put their ears back and tuck their tails down, it

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<v Speaker 1>may not be embarrassment that they're feeling. They might simply

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<v Speaker 1>find the costumes uncomfortable or unfamiliar, and they might be

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<v Speaker 1>upset by or reacting to the fact that all the

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<v Speaker 1>people around them are laughing and acting excited. If she

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<v Speaker 1>had to bet on it, Pierce thinks dogs probably experienced

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<v Speaker 1>the same basic emotions as humans. She said, dogs most

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<v Speaker 1>certainly experience what are called the primary emotions, such as anger, fear, sadness,

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<v Speaker 1>and joy. They also likely experience a whole range of

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<v Speaker 1>secondary emotions, including empathy, guilt, and embarrassment. As for which

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<v Speaker 1>emotions dogs lack, I wouldn't feel confident putting anything on

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<v Speaker 1>that list. My guess is that the more closely scientists

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<v Speaker 1>study the emotional experiences and capacities of dogs, the more

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<v Speaker 1>they will find. So should you dress your dog up

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<v Speaker 1>to put up Bluntly, if you would feel humiliated dressed

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<v Speaker 1>up as a lobster or Donald Trump, then chances are

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<v Speaker 1>your dog will too, Pierce said, when people ask me

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<v Speaker 1>whether it's mean to dress our dogs up in costumes

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<v Speaker 1>or fancy sweaters, my answer is ask your dog. If

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<v Speaker 1>your dog seems uncomfortable, then take the costume off. After

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<v Speaker 1>quickly taking that cute photograph to posts on social media.

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<v Speaker 1>If your dog doesn't seem to care, or perhaps even

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<v Speaker 1>seems to like being fancied up, then it's fine. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode is based on the article do dogs get embarrassed

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<v Speaker 1>When We Dress them up? On how stuffworks dot Com?

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<v Speaker 1>Written by John Partano. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio

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<v Speaker 1>in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com, and it's produced

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<v Speaker 1>by Tyler Klang. But for more podcasts from my heart Radio,

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