12. Dogs Yawn More If Their Owners Yawn
Dogs don’t just yawn contagiously. As with humans, dogs are more likely to catch a yawn from those that they are close to – especially their owners – than from a stranger. They detect the familiar sound of their owners and sometimes yawn in response.
This idea doesn’t just show how close humans are to the animal kingdom. It also shows that the empathy explanation for yawning may have some legitimate scientific basis. It is rooted heavily in behavior science, but that behavior is likely grounded in neural networks, such as mirror neurons.