Golden Retriever Puppy Seeing Himself in Mirror for the First Time Is Adorably Confused
Puppies are naturally curious and love to explore the world around them. Everything is new, and sometimes everyday things can even be scary. Benny is a Golden Retriever puppy who recently noticed himself in the mirror for the first time, and his reaction will totally make your day!
Benny's parents shared the video on Tuesday, June 18th. The video starts with Benny seeing a dog in the mirror. He's not sure who it is or where it came from. Watch as he adorable tries to figure out who the other dog is. Make sure your sound is on because the sound bite accompanying the video is spot on!
This is just too cute! Benny was so adorably confused over the gorgeous Golden he as seeing in the mirror. He didn't know if he wanted to bark at the dog or play with the dog! I really wish the video was longer - his reaction made my day!
Related: Pup Sees Himself in a Mirror and Immediately Becomes His Own BFF
Why Dogs Are Confused by Mirrors
As puppies, every dog is confused by mirrors, and some dogs still are as adults. Dogs are extremely intelligent and are able to learn commands and tricks, but understanding how mirrors work is a different story. They don't have the self-awareness necessary to understand that the good lookin' pooch staring back at them is actually them!
Hepper explains a bit more, "AKC showed that dogs recognize themselves and other dogs more through smell than sight." They go on to discuss some tests using dog urine that Roberto Cazzolla Gatti, a researcher at Tomsk State University in Russia conducted. "The tests showed that dogs recognized their urine quickly, recognized the urine from other dogs, and recognized when their urine had been tampered with using an additional scent... On a certain level, dogs seem self-aware as they know when something is “theirs,” including their urine." Scientists all agree though that all they see is another dog when looking in a mirror.
Which Animals Recognize Themselves in Mirrors?
Have you heard of the 'mirror test'? According to Wikipedia, "The mirror test is a behavioral technique developed in 1970 by American psychologist Gordon Gallup Jr. as an attempt to determine whether an animal possesses the ability of visual self-recognition." It's one of the most widely used to measure physiological and cognitive self-awareness.
Hepper shared this about which animals have been able to pass a mirror test, other than humans. Can you guess what they are? "There are only three creatures on Earth that have “passed” the mirror test for self-awareness. They include humans, chimpanzees, and orangutans. Some researchers believe that more creatures are self-aware, but until now, none of them have passed the admittedly human-biased test." It's not surprising to me that chimps and orangutans passed the test, but I am curious which other ones might in the future.
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