Pets we call our 'fur babies' offer us more than just companionship

It’s no mistake that you find that puppy on TikTok both lovable and adorable. After all, we made them that way.

For millennia, we have selected and bred dogs keen to befriend us.

Stan Coren, a professor emeritus in psychology at the University of British Columbia, says for 14,000 years, humans have been “systematically selecting dogs who are, for the most part, very sociable.”

“We created what we hoped would be our best friends,” he said.

“And for the most part, we have succeeded.”

Wolves are the ancestors of modern-day domesticated dogs. (Oliver Morin/AFP/Getty Images)

We’ve also selected the cutest — the dogs that trigger