Netflix has now officially put both sides of this eternally contentious debate in agreement: Inside the mind of a dog arrives two years later Inside the mind of a cat It debuted and it’s obvious that the two documentaries premiered in order of pet superiority. Not that anyone is anti-dog around here – it’s a universal truth that dogs are awesome and I’ve had a couple, but not as awesome as the noble feline in terms of human companionship. (It’s also okay to like both, as long as cognitive dissonance is, so to speak, totally your thing, man.) Anyway: Dog’s mind Rob Lowe is the narrator and he takes an analytical approach to the topic, while meeting the USDA’s daily nutritional requirements for frolicking puppy action and slow-motion shots of dogs flying through the air to catch frisbees. I’m sure it will be a hit on Netflix.
INSIDE THE MIND OF A DOGSTREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The essence: No one batted an eyelid when John Wick murdered eight percent of the population after some bad guys killed his dog. The general consensus was that his actions were entirely justified and that his motive for such extreme violence was easily the most plausible part of the entire movie. In doing so, it reaffirmed humanity’s love for dogs and further justifies the existence of a documentary like this. Inside the mind of a dogwhich seeks to answer a ton of questions you might have about your beloved Rover and Lil Nummynums: How smart are they, anyway? Do they experience emotions? What’s so special about their sense of smell? And—sniff!—does your dog really LOVE you?
We start with a brief history of dogs, which, genetically speaking, are all 99.9 percent wolves, whether they’re gorgeous huskies or goofy Yorkshire terriers. Domestication began when early man started leaving out food scraps — or “delicious trash,” in the words of one host on this outlet — that wolves liked to snack on, and they became our friends (side note: the next Netflix documentary should be about the incredible persity of dog breeds). “Survival of the friendliest,” is what the experts call it, and it’s a great expression. We learn the science behind puppy dog eyes and that every dog nose is different, with a distinctive “footprint,” like human fingers. Cool!
From there, the documentary delves into service dog training as a jumping-off point to examine what goes on inside Poochie’s skull. We follow a few dogs (e.g., good-natured golden boy Bonus and gentle black lab-type Peabody) through the training process and witness varying degrees of what appear to be devious teasing in order to teach discipline: dropping a sumptuous-looking piece of steak right in front of the pup and not letting him eat it, throwing a box full of tennis balls on the floor while the dog tries to sniff out a specific object, stuff like that. We’re thrown fun facts like Orel Hershiser fastballs—translations of different tail wags and tail wags. The dogs are trained to interrupt anxiety. They have 16 different facial expressions and have adopted some from their human friends. Their hearing is four times more sensitive than ours and their noses—oh my god, their noses! They smell… In 3DThey can smell cancer. They can smell our mood, for God’s sake! Which means they can smell our love, right? It seems so. And reciprocate, right? NO SPOILERS!
What movies will it remind you of? It’s a shame Netflix isn’t transparent with its numbers, otherwise we’d have access to the information. Dog Mind/Cat Mind streaming wars, but unfortunately, as far as related viewing goes, the Netflix docuseries The hidden lives of pets examines a similar topic. And then we ask ourselves what’s next: Inside the mind of a horse? Inside the mind of a gerbil? Inside the mind of a goldfishHow will you know if your aquarium snail LOVES you if Netflix doesn’t make a documentary about it? The sky’s the limit!
Performance worth watching: Peabody is mine dogHis trainer takes him to a sensory overload amusement park and the kid falls to the ground and literally snores through all the roller coaster and funnel cake excitement. That’s a legit superpower, bro.
Memorable dialogue: “Bonus’ favorite form of interaction is having his butt scratched. It gets him really fit.”
Sex and skin: None.
Our opinion: OF COURSE the Canine Cognition Center and the “puppy kindergarten” are located at Duke University, because See Spot Run Run Spot Run Community College would have been too obvious. Human brains from Harvard also appear here, further confirming Dog’s mind As a doctor who leans toward science and away from sentimental whims, and that’s all the better. Sure, cuteness is inevitable, because even the ugliest dogs are adorable, whether they’re sniffing butts and chasing tails, or doing the serious business of sniffing out people trapped under the rubble of an earthquake, or waking people with PTSD from harrowing nightmares.
The documentary isn’t all business, though. One of the rewards of a relatively in-depth look at service dog training methods (and the thoughtful analysis of behavior that comes from that) is a sequence in which newly trained dogs are paired with their owners, which puts one in a microwave and presses the nuclear button. At 75 minutes long, the film is concise and informative, but it doesn’t answer questions. each We might wonder whether dogs are successful at detecting diseases like Parkinson’s or diabetes, or whether service dog owners simply have to get used to having drool on door handles and light switches (the movie doesn’t talk about drool).
And yes, of course your dog loves you. The spoiler above was a joke. You already knew that and you didn’t need this movie to use science to prove it, although it does so convincingly. Instead, you’ll learn a lot more about dogs and how they interact and communicate with humans, and that’s the point of this engaging and fascinating documentary.
Our calling: Dog lovers’ tails will wag wildly in a polyrhythmic manner with their entire butts as they watch Inside the mind of a dog. Which of course roughly translates to PASS IT ON.
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
