In my opinion, documentaries and movies with pets in the lead role are very much worth watching. Being a dog owner, it is pure delight to witness the ‘pups’ in action, as each moment has the ability to provide a remarkable level of dopamine to each and every dog lover. In fact, many people don’t realize that these animals are the so-called “steal the attention” animals and because of this, many filmmakers and producers concentrate on the movies and documentaries about them, including dogs and cats: it is a pleasure to every pet owner or a person who works with animals. And there certainly is a great demand for lots, from engaging and nail biting thrillers to ridiculously ugly movies and television shows, as one of the streaming platforms is now called Netflix. Like the one we will focus on today: Inside the Mind of a Dog directed by Andy Mitchell.
The documentary presents a group of specialists who try to explain how a dog’s brain works together with images of these adorable playful yet concentrated furballs. The narration by Rob Lowe who appears calm and enthusiastic gives a great voice in the documentary. How great the pets ended up being which of course evolved from wolves. Not only man’s best friend was the one who learned to receive “yummy waists” which were pieces of earthly garbage thrown by us savages. It was also the one that learned to “talk” with its face and voice. These dogs, with their “half-moon-shaped” eyes inspiring to give them treats, tilt their heads when they feel tension. Well, it also happens when dogs are plotting something fun.
It is an indisputable fact that dogs rank highly in clever creatures. If a single average dog is said to understand around 165 words, there is a record of a dog named Chaser that knew over 1,000 words. These pointers make it unwise to label them a simple species. For instance, dogs can be hilariously funny being so silly as chasing their own tails, or infamously barking back in response with a roll of their eyes, or slurping water straight from the toilet. These are however the funnier aspects of their intelligence which would leave most people astounded by some of their characteristics. The most essential is their “boopy” nose, which can pick up on things that most people wouldn’t even be able to see with their eyes.
Inside the Mind of a Dog captures the endless connection of dogs and humans, showcasing how the two have nurtured and continue to nurture their bond. Just like people, dogs are trained to be more aware of their surroundings, which has led to several works that seek to explain how language and perception, cognitive mechanisms, are all within a dog’s brain. The action of analyzing and comprehending the mental processes of dogs themselves as constant and separate actions has allowed mankind to understand which dog is suitable to be a patrol, search for people with disabilities, or be a pet for someone with loving arms.
We also meet Dr. Brian Hare of the Canine Cognition Center at Duke, along with his wife Vanessa Wood who has opened a long time ago a school known as Puppy Kindergarten where her staff assists in the development of service dog candidates from the ages of 8 to 20 weeks. These dogs are firstly put on a leash with puppy raisers, volunteers who look after puppies during the first 8 weeks of their lives and then are trained. Within this training, the mutts learn to engage in fun games where they problem-solve and train for their future owners.
Woods elaborates how dogs and their owners use their gazes as a way of affection. Such bonding is quite akin to the bond of love a toddler has with his parents, which engenders the release of a love hormone containing oxytocin in both. The documentary also illustrates Woods’ perspectives as an advice for budding dog owners, as it enables them to decipher their dog’s mind through various physical cues such as body posture, tail position, ear orientation, and even the eyes. And of course, a bark is never just a bark; it is one of the most helpful tools in figuring out the dog’s requirements.
Inside the Mind of a Dog later goes into the interesting narrative of whether dogs possess ADHD much like their human counterparts. For example, when a mother dog is encouraging them to stop sucking on her and start problem solving, it ultimately results in many puppies raised this way to become superb service dogs rather than if their mothers hovered over them during their growing years. Perhaps the service dog perspective is granted the most focus as they are generally accepted as the most trained and intelligent canines, which is quite unfortunate since the film neglects to deal on the reasons why dogs are purposely bred for types and what those do to the dogs.
When we discuss the adoption of a dog, it is also pertinent to think about the relations between a dog and its owner in general. A lack of attention to this issue is often found when dogs are being bred in developing countries where rural areas are the main producers and breeders, with no regard to the problem of overpopulation of dogs with specific ill-health traits. While the documentary shows us how these centers and schools are working and training the furry creatures to actually unleash their potentials, to the point where it seems Netflix is more interested in advertising the center rather than actually educating about the topic of the documentary, it is rather sad to see that the most recent paradigm of making a documentary is the representation of the good and only good.
Any discussion that involves touchy topics such as canines and their exhibited intelligence, the narration fails to contextualize any reasoning as to why there is a particular selection of breeds that often qualify for service dogs as opposed to any dog. Inside the Mind of a Dog does cover the intriguing subject of dog cognition for the duration of 75 minutes which can be termed as brief. It can however, be said that the documentary should have focused on observing the minds of dogs of many other breeds including rescues and mixed breeds instead of trained puppies who constantly get treats for doing school-like tasks and being a good boy.
You tell yourself that there are parts of the film that do make your heart ache and force you get off your couch and pick up your dog who may be lazing around while the film goes on. Still, for an audience who loves dogs like me there were lots of questions which remained unanswered and these created a certain level of annoyance during the documentary to find out such answers as these are not difficult to find out because of the curiosity of such topics.
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