--- title: Animal minds: what dogs and cats feel and understand (and do cats really chase mice?) — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Animal minds: what dogs and cats feel and understand (and do cats really chase mice?)», a lesson of the biology course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Dogs and cats share our homes, so we think we know their minds, but scientists keep --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/) / Animal minds: what dogs and cats feel… # Animal minds: what dogs and cats feel and understand (and do cats really chase mice?) Lesson 237 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 15 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/0/) — Dogs and cats share our homes, so we think we know their minds, but scientists keep finding surprises with careful tests. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/1/) — Dogs have lived with people for thousands of years and have become experts at reading us: our pointing fingers, faces and voices. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/2/) — Cats were never bred to work with people the way dogs were, so they know their names but often decide not to come. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/3/) — And Tom and Jerry? - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/4/) — Real cats do hunt mice, but by waiting quietly and pouncing, not by long chases round the house, and a well-fed pet cat may hardly bother. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/6/) — Dogs follow human pointing very well, even as puppies, while wolves and chimpanzees find it hard. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/7/) — A border collie called Chaser learned the names of over 1,000 toys and worked out that a new name meant the toy she did not know; most dogs learn only a few. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/8/) — Real cats hunt mice by waiting quietly and pouncing, and many well-fed pet cats are not very interested in hunting. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/9/) — Mice will eat cheese, but they prefer grains, seeds and sweet foods, so people baiting traps usually use peanut butter. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/12/) — Cats blink slowly at people they trust, and slow blinking back can help a cat relax. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/13/) — Dogs tend to wag more to the right when happy and more to the left when worried, and a stiff, high, fast wag can mean tension. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/14/) — Dogs sometimes catch yawns from people, more often from their own owners. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/15/) — Cats have a twisting reflex, using their very bendy backbone, that turns them feet-down when falling, but falls can still hurt them badly. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/16/) — In tests, dogs pushed and snapped at a toy dog their owner petted, but not at a bucket, which suggests a simple kind of jealousy. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/17/) — Dogs learn routines and read tiny signs, like shoes picked up or a coat touched, so they seem to know when it is time for a walk. - ← previous: [Animal minds: elephants' memory, feelings and the mouse myth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth/) - next →: [Ants: colonies, queens, farmers and living bridges](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/238-ants-colonies-queens-farmers-and-living-bridges/) - ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/)