Original subtitles

CHARLIE: What's up, guys. I'm Charlie. KIRBY: And I'm Kirby.

CHARLIE: Today we're hanging out in Pennsylvania, where they're training the next

batch of search and rescue heroes.

If you're trapped under a collapsed building, under an avalanche, in a disaster area,

you better hope that one of these guys is coming your way 'cause they might be your best

chance for rescue!

KIRBY: And here comes one now. CHARLIE: I think I hear one now.

KIRBY: Good boy. CHARLIE: Hey Patterson. KIRBY: Hey Patterson.

CHARLIE: These dogs can do amazing things.

(barks).

Weird, but True.

Hey guys! Charlie here, you know my sister Kirby! And this is our dog Winnie.

Alright we were just on a walk with Winnie when the weirdest thing just happened.

Winnie's a dog.

KIRBY: Obviously. CHARLIE: Obviously.

And there are a few things we know about dogs, right?

Man's best friend.

KIRBY: Great companion. CHARLIE: Loyal.

KIRBY: Protective. CHARLIE: Dog stuff.

So while we were out on this walk we wanted to put all this to the test,

gage Winnie's natural abilities as a companion.

KIRBY: Naturally. CHARLIE: Naturally.

So there we were, walking along when Kirby had a great idea.

She was like.

KIRBY: We should see what happens if we all of the sudden need Winnie's help.

Like if we we're in trouble or something.

CHARLIE: Okay, how? KIRBY: We collapse.

CHARLIE: What? KIRBY: On the ground, collapse. What do you think?

CHARLIE: I don't get it.

Kirby's idea was that at some point during our walk we should drop to the ground

frozen and see how Winnie responds.

You know? Does she help us out? Protect us?

Companion, best friend kind of stuff.

So we decided to test it out.

KIRBY: Let's give it a shot.

CHARLIE: Okay let's give it a shot.

What the heck Winnie?

KIRBY: No help.

CHARLIE: No help at all. Just kind of stood there without a care in the world.

KIRBY: Yeah Winnie's less of a protector dog and more of a I'm just gonna lay in the sun

and look cute all day kid of a dog.

CHARLIE: The cutest of dogs!

KIRBY: Which bring us to today's topic!

So dogs evolved from wolves, right?

You know carnivores, with huge teeth.

But how did we get from a wolves to Winnie?

CHARLIE: No idea.

So today we're unraveling the world of.

CHARLIE: The evolution of dogs! KIRBY: The evolution of dogs!

CHARLIE: Alright, so the evolution of dogs, let's get started.

So we all know that dogs evolved from gray wolves right?

So that's where it all starts and. Whoa!

KIRBY: Oooo! CHARLIE: Ooooo! Apparently, we were wrong.

KIRBY: Very wrong.

CHARLIE: According to this book, dogs did not evolve from gray wolves.

KIRBY: And this is a pretty legit book.

CHARLIE: I feel like we got a lot of reading to do.

KIRBY: I think you're right. CHARLIE: Come on over. Let's dive in.

The story of dogs.

Firstly, dogs didn't descend from gray wolves.

Trust me, I know. I came from a library.

The real story of dogs started way back before you were born.

Before even your parents were born.

27,000 years ago, give or take, when the last common ancestor of the present day

wolf and dog was alive.

This little guy, we'll call him, Ancestor Dog.

Around this time some of Ancestor Dog's relatives began looking a little different.

One would evolve into viciously wild wild wolves, and the other into dogs.

But it took some time, oh yes it took quite a lot of time actually.

The process was less about survival of the fiercest or strongest,

and more about survival of the friendliest.

Being friendly turned out to be the most important survival skill.

Because in this situation the friendliest was the fittest.

But how did dogs and humans meet?

Perhaps, they were interested in our garbage, in our prehistorical trash,

that we tossed at the edges of our settlements.

If those dogs were aggressive, they were most likely chased away,

but if they were friendly, who cares if a dog is rummaging through your trash,

they were kept around.

Eventually, we think, they joined in hunts and occasionally acted as

emergency food supplies.

Once prehistoric man noted how useful owning a dog was, the rest was history,

a relationship was forged in the trash heaps of prehistoric settlements.

Eventually, Ancestor Dog went extinct and over the years dogs have changed quite a bit

through evolution, breeding, and artificial selection.

And through that process of artificial selection man has helped his best friend evolve

into all sorts of weird and totally adorable breeds.

Like the labradoodle, this friendly face is a mix between a Labrador retriever and a

poodle.

Or this tough little gal, the puggle, part begal, part pug, these pups are known for their

squishy little faces and big floppy ears.

Or last up, how about the oh so cute pomsky?

These tiny fluffballs are a cross between a husky and a pomeranian.

Pretty weird and totally adorable, but no matter the breed They're still that

species loved from Cleveland to Paris, Canis familiaris.

Love a good book.

KIRBY: Love a good book, random little rhyme there at the end.

CHARLIE: Dogs and rhymes they totally go together.

Alright, so dogs, survival of the friendliest.

KIRBY: It's in a book.

CHARLIE: From the library.

KIRBY: So you know it's true.

CHARLIE: So dogs.

KIRBY: From vicious wild animal.

CHARLIE: To all different sorts of dog breeds, including Winnie,

our favorite Cairn Terrier puppy dog girl.

Cairn terrier is a breed of dog.

KIRBY: But not a species.

CHARLIE: Yeah, all dogs are the same species, canis familiaris.

But over hundreds and hundreds of years, humans have selectively bred dogs to the

point where there are a bunch of different kinds,

but they all started from the same animal!

For example, people just bred the fastest dog breeds over and over until they got the

greyhounds of today, one of the fastest dog breeds.

Weird but True fact, they can run 43 miles per hour.

That's more than 1.5 times faster than the fastest Olympic sprinter ever.

Here's another.

People bred the smallest dogs over and over until they got Chihuahuas.

Coming in at four pounds.

And the biggest dogs over and over until they got English mastiffs,

coming in at 200 pounds.

Awesome number breakdown, a single English mastiff weighs as much as 50 Chihuahuas.

That's a lot of Chihuahuas.

So dogs have changed quite a lot from their ancient ancestors.

But scientists have been able to figure out that Siberian huskies are one dog breed that

shares most of their genes with the ancestor dog.

But here's my question, how many dog breeds are there?

KIRBY: 300. CHARLIE: 300? KIRBY: Well, a bit over 300.

CHARLIE: You know this because.

KIRBY: I keep up with dog stuff.

CHARLIE: Whoa she's right.

KIRBY: Of course I'm right.

CHARLIE: According to the World Canine Organization, otherwise known as the

Fédération Cynologique Internationale, the largest internationally recognized

registry of dogs in the entire world.

KIRBY: Oui, there are over 300 breeds!

That is correct.

Croissant?

CHARLIE: And still that dog human bond is stronger than ever!

But you gotta wonder why right?

Like why dogs and humans?

What did it?

KIRBY: Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

New science research on the dog human bond!

CHARLIE: Whoa! What's this?

New science research? It's all in the eyes!

KIRBY: Whoa! CHARLIE: Whoa!

You guys gotta check this out!

Alright so this study they're talking about in the newspaper,

it's all about gazing.

Seeing what happens when people look each other in the eye.

Pretty simple.

And it measured this stuff called oxytocin.

Cool science word!

Oxytocin, it's a hormone in our body that has to do with trust and bonding.

Some people call it the cuddle hormone!

'cause your body releases a lot of it when you cuddle someone!

Basically, these researchers took babies and their mothers.

And they found out that when a mother stares at her baby in the eye,

the baby's oxytocin levels increase, they're bonding.

Which causes the baby to stare the mother in the eye,

which causes her oxytocin levels to increase.

Which causes her to keep staring her baby in the eye.

So everyone's just supercharged with oxytocin!

Everyone's just staring at each other and getting so much more cuddly!

Here's the weird thing though, they tried the same experiment with dogs.

And the same exact thing happened!

Dogs who spent time staring at their owners had a 130% spike in oxytocin levels.

Owners who stared at their dogs had a 300% spike in oxytocin levels.

So, gazing at our dogs makes us feel all cuddly!

It's science!

So the dog, human bond it's a chemical attraction.

We feel bonded to them by just looking at 'em, and they feel bonded to us,

by just looking at us!

It's the science of cuddliness.

The best kind of science.

KIRBY: Whoa! CHARLIE: Whoa! What's this?

"Interview with Superdogs!"

Meet the dogs that were bred and trained to save lives

at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center.

We're going.

KIRBY: What? CHARLIE: Yeah, we're going.

KIRBY: Right now? CHARLIE: Right now.

KIRBY: Well I gotta take Winnie out first!

CHARLIE: Okay let's go!

Alright guys, Kirby's gonna take Winnie out super quickly, but when she gets back we're

gonna go to Penn Vet Working Dog Center to see some super dogs.

Sounds good?

Alright we'll see you in a few!

KIRBY: Weird but True, there's an owl in Australia that barks like a dog,

commonly known as the barking owl!

CHARLIE: Hey guys! Welcome back!

We're just waiting for Kirby to get back with Winnie and then we got an awesome place

to show you guys.

KIRBY: All set! CHARLIE: Alright you ready to go?

KIRBY: Ready to go. CHARLIE: See ya later Ween! KIRBY: Bye Winnie!

CHARLIE: Today we're investigating the evolution of dogs and right now,

we're kicking it over to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania known as the city of brotherly

love, especially where dogs are concerned.

We're headed to a cool spot that capitalizes on the strong evolutionary traits that dogs

possess, like their wicked sense of smell, sight, and devotion to humans.

WOMAN: Yay good boy!

CHARLIE: Here they're turning everyday dogs into superdogs!

Giving them the training they need to detect explosives, go on rescue missions,

and save human lives in a whole bunch of ways.

Alright, here's where it all happens, the Penn Vet Working Dog Center.

Puppies come in here and emerge as super dogs!

KIRBY: Real heroes!

CHARLIE: Ready to save lives!

I feel like we gotta find someone to talk to.

KIRBY: Let's go. CHARLIE: Alright follow us.

Hi Dr. Otto I'm Charlie.

CINDY: Hi Charlie nice to meet you. KIRBY: I'm Kirby.

CHARLIE: Nice to meet you too. CINDY: Kirby so nice to meet you.

CHARLIE: Who is this? Who do we have here?

CINDY: This is Bobby. CHARLIE: Hey Bobby!

We gotta introduce you to our buddies, guys, Dr. Otto, Bobby.

CINDY: Hi guys! CHARLIE: Bobby, Dr. Otto, guys.

Dr. Cindy Otto has been working with dogs for over 20 years.

Specializing in emergency and disaster medicine.

She's also great at agility training and teaching them fun tricks!

She's worked with all sorts of dogs.

From helping 911 rescue dogs to training her bichon Dolce.

Dr. Otto's favorite Weird but True fact is, a dog's nose print is as unique as a

human's fingerprint!

Today we're all about dogs.

This seems kind of like the, the top of the top right here.

These are the super dogs.

CINDY: The dogs here are really special because every job that they do is about

using their nose.

CHARLIE: So what sorts of things are these dogs smelling as part of their jobs?

CINDY: So they can smell narcotics, which are all kinds of different drugs,

they can smell explosives.

CHARLIE: Bombs and stuff.

CINDY: Bombs. CHARLIE: Whoa!

CINDY: And even guns, they can smell live humans that are trapped,

they can smell cancer.

CHARLIE: Cancer? CINDY: They can smell cancer.

They can smell low blood sugar from diabetes.

CHARLIE: Holy cow we're getting super specific here. KIRBY: Yeah.

CINDY: Pretty much they can smell anything that we train them to if it's important to

us they can smell it.

CHARLIE: Weird but True fact, bloodhounds have over 230 million scent receptors in

their noses.

That's 40 times more than we have!

So can any dogs do this?

CINDY: Our super dogs tend to be labs and shepherds mostly. KIRBY: Mhmm.

CINDY: But there are other dogs that can do this and we like those dogs 'cause they're

super athletic, they like to play with us, they like to respond to us,

and they really are good at this kind of work.

KIRBY: So you usually have to start 'em when they're babies, when they're puppies?

CINDY: We like to start 'em when they're, when they're babies because these working

dogs have life saving jobs.

They, they actually save lives and we want 'em to have as long of a job as possible.

So they usually start their job at about 18 months or two years.

CHARLIE: Hmm.

CINDY: And so if we don't start training them till later then it,

it's not as long of a career, but we also know that younger dogs kind of learn things

faster.

CHARLIE: We have a dog Winnie, 11 year old Cairn Terrier.

Can we turn her into a super dog?

CINDY: Hmmm.

CHARLIE: No? CINDY: I'm sure she already is super at what she does best.

What? Laying on the couch?

KIRBY: Yup. CHARLIE: Laying in the sun spots.

CINDY: Got it. CHARLIE: Relaxing. KIRBY: Eating.

CHARLIE: She's a great, she's a super nap taker.

CINDY: That's a super dog! It's just a different career.

CHARLIE: So what makes dogs so good at this?

Why aren't there search and rescue parrots or falcons or.

KIRBY: Cats. CHARLIE: Or lizards or something else like that?

CINDY: Dogs are so great because they are really bonded to us and they communicate

with us and understand what we communicate to them.

WOMAN: Let's go to work.

CHARLIE: What's a good way to train a dog at home?

CINDY: So we love positive reinforcement training.

CHARLIE: Uh huh.

CINDY: So basically when they do something we give them a, a treat, toy,

something that they, they like and then that becomes a kind of game that you play.

CHARLIE: That's probably the best part of this whole thing, whenever they get it right.

Ahhh!

CINDY: Ah it's a party! CHARLIE: You did it! KIRBY: That is exciting.

CHARLIE: I feel like we gotta try this at home.

KIRBY: Absolutely.

WOMAN: Good boy!

CHARLIE: What are the kinds of things that we're gonna see today?

CINDY: You're gonna see the dogs doing search and rescue, you're gonna see how the dogs

use their noses to find the person that's trapped and, and hidden in the rubble,

the dog can smell the odor of a person and they follow that smell until it's the

strongest.

Kind of like when mom's making cookies.

KIRBY: I was gonna say. CHARLIE: Okay.

CINDY: And you smell and you go there are the cookies.

CHARLIE: Except for cookies in the oven it's person under rubble.

CINDY: Exactly.

CHARLIE: These dogs really are superdogs and we can't wait to meet them,

but before we head over to the earthquake search and rescue Dr. Otto wants us to check out

some of the other super dogs in training.

She set up three rounds of experiments that we get to help with.

And to kick things off we're heading over to meet a dog that's as brave as they come.

So these dogs right now are being trained to be police dogs

to detect and find explosives.

Right now Kirby's gloving up and she's gonna hide some explosive material.

I don't know where it's gonna be because I'm racing Bickle the search dog to see who can

find it first.

Bickle or Charlie.

Check it out.

KIRBY: So this is a piece of training explosive material.

I'm all gloved up so he doesn't smell me, he only smells this,

and we're gonna hide it and see who wins.

Alright let's see who wins!

(ticking)

CHARLIE: I'm looking for a bomb.

If I'm planting a bomb where am I planting the bomb?

No.

(ringing)

Explosive search results, Bickle found it in the area planted by Kirby so.

KIRBY: Bickle wins.

CHARLIE: Pretty sure I looked in this area uh for a solid while and found absolutely

nothing, but I guess that's why these dogs are important.

MAN: Good boy! Good boy!

CHARLIE: Experiment number one was a success.

But next up is a super weird test.

We're off to see if dogs can find things using their noses that aren't visible to the

naked eye.

This is gonna be cool.

Let's check it out.

Alright, so here's the situation, Kirby's got a sample on her hands,

it's just a swab from someone's mouth who had low blood sugar.

That's all it takes!

That's all these dogs need to recognize if a diabetic has low blood sugar.

She's gonna plant it and we're gonna see if our superdog can come in and

recognize where it is.

Time to get our super dog and see if it works.

MAN: Good boy!

CHARLIE: Yay!

KIRBY: Way to go! He was like, 'I really found it!'

MAN: Yeah.

CHARLIE: Another life saved by a superdog!

Last up search and rescue.

Dogs that perform these life saving jobs can tackle all sorts of environments.

Like mudslides, avalanches, and even earthquakes.

Just like the one we staged here today.

Alright time for the big one guys, we're at the disaster search dog training area.

KIRBY: Yup. CHARLIE: So if you look around you can imagine

an earthquake just happened here.

That's what they're trying to simulate.

We got rubble, we got some cars that are wrecked, we got a school bus that is on top of

a bunch of junk.

What's gonna happen is this is where they train dogs to search for people who are

trapped.

So I'm gonna hide under some rubble, Kirby's gonna release the dog and we're gonna see if

he can find me.

KIRBY: Yup. CHARLIE: A little rescue operation here.

Ready to go?

KIRBY: Let's do this. CHARLIE: Alright.

Buckle up, get the helmets ready.

KIRBY: Safety first. CHARLIE: Safety first.

KIRBY: Alright. CHARLIE: Click it up.

Let's roll. I'm super stoked. See you back in a few.

KIRBY: Weird but True, some dogs are allergic to cats!

CHARLIE: We're ready to put dog skills to the ultimate test.

This is what's gonna happen, we got this nice big pile of rubble right here,

I got this toy for the reward when the dog finds me.

Got a nice hole creeping right under here, I'm going in, and I'm gonna be trapped under all

of this wood right here, that's the plan.

We'll see if the dog can save my life.

KIRBY: So this is Patterson, and he's gonna search this whole field to try to find

Charlie using just his nose.

It's gonna be awesome.

CHARLIE: Alright here we go in.

Ah!

Ugh!

KIRBY: You ready?

CHARLIE: It's super tight in here.

KIRBY: Alrighty.

CHARLIE: Ugh.

WOMAN: Ready to work?

KIRBY: Ready to work Patterson?

WOMAN: Then say go find. KIRBY: You ready? Go find!

CHARLIE: Help!

The dog's totally coming.

I know it.

KIRBY: He's so speedy!

(bark).

CHARLIE: Hey! Hey! Hey!

KIRBY: Patterson's got him! WOMAN: Woohoo Patterson!

CHARLIE: Aww good puppy!

Good puppy yeah!

KIRBY: Yeah Patterson!

CHARLIE: Wooo!

I'm saved! Hooray!

Aw yeah! That was amazing!

Can I pet my savior?

KIRBY: He found you quick Charles.

CHARLIE: Way to go pup!

Thanks for finding me!

Aww!

KIRBY: Good job Patterson!

CHARLIE: Another life saved by by a search and rescue dog.

How nuts is this?

If you look around this area there are a whole bunch of spots where I could've been

hiding, or where a person could've been trapped.

Right?

It took our buddy Patterson 15 seconds to search the whole place.

15 seconds!

That's like how long it takes to pour a glass of milk or something.

And when you're trapped under a building every second matters.

So you can see how important these dogs are for saving lives.

It's really insane.

How crazy is that to think about?

A couple thousand years ago these dogs were just feasting on the scraps outside of human

settlements.

Fast forward to now and they're rescuing us from collapsed buildings,

sniffing out cancer, finding explosives, saving our lives in a whole bunch of ways.

All it took was a couple thousand years of bonding, some breeding,

a little training, a belly rub here and there, and boom you got a super dog.

You know what Kirb?

KIRBY: What's up? CHARLIE: This is making me miss our own super dog!

I think we gotta go back and see her.

KIRBY: We got to.

CHARLIE: Yeah we're gonna head back to HQ, but we'll see you there?

Alright, back in a flash.

KIRBY: Weird but True, dogs have been taught to ride skateboards and scooters!

CHARLIE: Hey Winnie!

KIRBY: Ween!

CHARLIE: Hey guys! KIRBY: Hey!

CHARLIE: We just got back from the Penn Vet Working Dog Center.

KIRBY: Super dogs! Hero dogs! CHARLIE: How crazy is that?

Thousands of years ago humans and dogs started hanging out, and now,

they're saving our lives.

Except Winnie.

She really doesn't get the concept.

KIRBY: But that's okay.

CHARLIE: She's still our super dog.

What else did we learn today?

There were so many awesome things!

KIRBY: Dogs noses can sniff out explosives, narcotics, and even cancer.

CHARLIE: All dogs and wolves are descendants of one relative, the Ancestor Dog.

KIRBY: Greyhounds can run up to 43 miles per hour making them one of

the fastest dogs on earth.

CINDY: Hey, Kirby. KIRBY: Hey, Cindy. CHARLIE: Hey Cindy.

CINDY: Hey Charlie. I hear you need some help training Winnie.

KIRBY: We're gonna make Winnie a super dog.

CINDY: That would be great.

So the first thing we need to do is we need to figure out what is.

CHARLIE: Alright guys I think this is gonna take a while, but come back again when we

discover more things that are Weird but True.

KIRBY: You ready Ween?

CHARLIE: Ready? Ready to sit? Sit.

KIRBY: Ready? CHARLIE: Sit.

KIRBY: Sit, Sit. CHARLIE: Oooo! Boom.

KIRBY: Roll over. CHARLIE: Uh that's not gonna work.

Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services.