While cats remain people's worst enemy, dogs are people's best friend. They're playful, loyal, loving, and play valuable roles in society, from guiding the vision-impaired to performing CPR on fallen police officers. Yeah, they might be a little needy sometimes, but it's worth it for that emotional connection.
Hot off their terrifying horror series, The Haunting of Hill House, Netflix has announced a new documentary show all about canines. The six-episode series tells six stories "celebrating the deep emotional bonds between people and their beloved four-legged friends." Proving that love for dogs is universal, the episodes take place in a variety of countries, including the United States, Syria, Japan, Costa Rica and Italy. While The Haunting of Hill House made people pass out from terror, Dogs will make people cry with joy.
To see the incredible Dogs trailer for yourself, check out the video below:
The series premieres November 16 and tracks six relationships: Rory, a certified dog who changes the life of an 11-year-old girl suffering from autistic seizures; Ayham, a refugee who risks everything to smuggle his beloved Siberian Husky across the Syria-Lebanon border; Ice, a 10-year-old Labrador who valiantly helps a struggling Italian fisherman with the family business; two renowned Japanese dog groomers who fly to California for the ultimate competition; a sanctuary in Costa Rica that saves dogs from living on the streets; and a New York charity that goes on a mission to save dogs from a kill shelter in the South.
"Dogs don't just make us feel loved - dogs make us feel safe," executive producer Glen Zipper told Variety. "In the world we live in today, no matter how divided we are, we should take care to realize how much dogs mean to all of us, and how our bond with them can help bring us together." Fellow EP and filmmaker Amy Berg added, "In times of division, volatility and confusion Dogs is an emotional palate cleanse. Watching the show offers a salve for the spirit and reminds us of the redemptive power of love." (So, it's safe to say there won't be any mention of Donald Trump.)
You might be wondering, why people from such a deep bond with dogs? Well, according to a new study from Hungarian researchers, dogs understand what we are saying and the feeling behind it. Basically, when you talk to your pooch, they understand part of we're saying because they use the same parts of the brain to recognize spoken language
"The human brain not only separately analyses what we say and how we say it, but also integrates the two types of information, to arrive at a unified meaning," stated lead researcher Attila Andics, from Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. "Our findings suggest that dogs can also do all that, and they use very similar brain mechanisms.
Pretty cool, right? Well, now you can see why that preview is so effective at tugging at the heartstrings. As one woman states in the trailer, "I can't imagine my life my life without dogs." And as one person joked in the YouTube comments, "Yes, with this documentary, we can begin taking the internet back from the cats."
