why do most domestic animals enjoy being petted?
In: Biology
Selective breeding, if I had to guess.
Say you find two stray cats: one that does not like being petted, and one who does. You will more likely treat the friendliest cat better, providing it more food and shelter and increase its chances of surviving compared to the “unfriendly”. Multiply this for thousands (?) of years and you will get a majority of animals that enjoy being petted since the other ones are less likely to thrive.
Imagine a big friendly giant scoops you out of the garbage and lets you live in his house for free for the entire duration of the rest of your life. He feeds you, buys you toys, takes you to the doctor when you need it, and all he asks in return is that he get to rub his big weird hands all over you a couple times a day. Would you not be enjoyed?
Imagine when you get a hug from someone you love, it makes you feel really good and safe, right? Well, for animals like dogs and cats, being petted is kind of like getting a hug from us. It’s a way of showing them we care about them. When we pet them, it can also remind them of when they were little babies and their mom would lick and groom them. This makes them feel loved and comfy. Plus, petting feels nice on their skin and can help them relax, just like when someone plays with your hair and it feels super calming.
My personal opinion on this is that it was selected as a behavior because it allows us humans to check the animal for parasites and other health issues. I have no hard facts on this just my experience with dogs and checking them for ticks.
If you’re capable of growing a beard, grow it out for at least 3 months and tell me that shit doesn’t feel orgasmic when stroked. You think every beard guy is just trying to draw your attention when they do that? They’re practically giving themselves Oomox
I’ve had a theory for a while that it’s the other way around.
First off, pain is bad, but an itch you can’t scratch might actually be worse.
I think that we were able to domesticate mostly 4 legged animals because we have the ability to scratch them where they can’t scratch themselves.
monkeys are the only ones that have such an efficient and giant tongue for petting, compared to all the other animals that don’t actually have hands, which have to lick each other as a form of petting.
Have you ever let your partner just rub your back or your head? So relaxing. I figure it’s that.
Have you been petted, had your hair stroked?
Feels good, man.
Technically most, if not all animals enjoy being petted, it’s just that wild ones have too much fear to allow themselves to be. Even some fish seem to enjoy it.
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