Imagine this: You’re at the doctor’s office, and instead of one quick tap with the reflex hammer—the kind that makes your leg kick out without you meaning to—they just…keep going. Tap, tap, tap, right on that same spot below your knee, for a solid two minutes straight. It wouldn’t hurt you. But after a while, you’d probably start feeling pretty strongly about wanting it to stop—and if they didn’t, you might start wanting to kick someone on purpose.
Now imagine you’re a dog, and someone finds your “sweet spot”—that one particular patch of skin on the side or back—and won’t quit scratching it. Suddenly, your back leg is kicking without your permission, over and over, like it’s got somewhere better to be. As adorable as it looks from the outside, it’s probably not exactly a party for you.
“It’s an annoyance,” says Nancy Thomas, DVM, a veterinarian with Telavets, an online veterinary expert consultation service. “It doesn’t do any good to continue doing it. The spinal cord is trying to say ‘get off of me.’”
So what is the mechanism behind your pup’s leg acting on autopilot?
Your dog’s leg has a mind of its own
So it might look like your dog is practicing to bend it like Beckham, or maybe is angling for a spot with the Rockettes, but what is really happening is entirely out of your pet’s control. It’s something called the pruritic scratch reflex.
It’s a reflex arc, a shortcut in the nervous system that bypasses the brain altogether to allow for an instant response. When something (your hand, a flea, a burr caught in the fur) touches the skin in that spot, sensory nerves pick up on it and send a signal straight to the spinal cord. The spinal cord doesn’t pause to think it over, according to Thomas; it’s the same shortcut your body uses when you touch a hot stove, although your dog’s involuntary kicks do not involve pain.
“You touch a stove, and the signal goes from the sensory nerves up to the spinal cord, and the spinal cord immediately sends a message back to your finger to get off the stove,” Thomas says. “It’s a millisecond kind of a deal.”
When dogs twitch during pets, it’s not because they like it. Video: That’s the Spot, @TheDogRufferee
The reason dogs have the pruritic scratch reflex basically comes down to pest control: that particular area along your dog’s flank is prime real estate for fleas, ticks, mites, and burrs—the kind of small, easy-to-miss irritants that can burrow in or bite before a dog even notices. Rather than relying on conscious awareness to catch the pest, dogs’ built in a shortcut: If something touches down in that zone, the leg kicks automatically on the off chance it’s actually a threat trying to dig in.
It’s the same basic reflex that makes a horse’s skin twitch to shake off a fly, says Thomas, who also created an emergency medical ID tag for horses and their riders.
“It’s a mechanism designed to keep nefarious things off the body,” Thomas says.
It’s not the same as tickling
A very common misunderstanding around the pruritic scratch response is that it is a form of tickling, and it’s easy to see why: your dog is responding in a riotous, involuntary, and rather comical way to a physical trigger.
But as gleeful as it looks when your dog breaks into those rapid-fire leg kicks, the experience is probably neutral at best for your dog. By continuing to do it, you could be “perpetuating the annoyance,” according to Thomas. Even tickling isn’t universally and unequivocally loved.
To be clear, this doesn’t mean your dog is necessarily having a miserable time every time you find that spot. In general, the reflexive leg kick is just proof that your dog’s built-in protective wiring is working exactly the way it’s supposed to. But there’s one pattern worth keeping an eye on. If your dog reacts almost anywhere you touch them, or seems unusually sensitive even on their belly (which is normally a calmer, less reactive area due to its lack of contact with the ground), that’s worth mentioning to your vet.
“That’s a possible red flag for atopy,” Thomas says, referring to allergies or skin inflammation that leaves the whole body more sensitive. It’s similar to how a patch of poison ivy makes even light touch uncomfortable.
“That might be a bit of a sign,” Thomas says. “These dogs might be a little extra sensitive, due to a skin condition.”
To make bonding with your dog more enjoyable for both of you, Thomas advises sticking to areas not commonly associated with the pruritic scratch reflex, such as the belly. She also recommends watching your dog’s body language to ensure they’re having as much fun as you. It’s a much better way to ‘get your kicks’ without turning your dog into a full-on kickboxer.
“If you’re rubbing their belly, and they’re all spread out and relaxed-looking, that’s a sign you’re on the right track,” she says.
In Ask Us Anything, Popular Science answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions, from the everyday things you’ve always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask. Have something you’ve always wanted to know? Ask us.
Anyone who regularly walks a dog has likely felt the heavy pull of their smartphone to break up the monotony. Though the hustle and bustle of modern life makes multitasking more appealing than ever, distracted dog walking can put the pooch and its owner in dangerous spots. It may also contribute to piles of abandoned, unscooped poop.
That last point comes from a new study published in the journal Society & Natural Resources by researchers at the University of Surrey in England. The team spent 40 hours observing dog walkers across several sites in the Surrey Hills National Landscape southwest of London, to see how they actually behaved on walks. On 11 different occasions, they spotted owners so absorbed in their phone’s enticing glow or tuned out with headphones that they apparently didn’t notice their dog had relieved itself.
This abandoned dog poop, which the team artfully calls “pet fouling,” wasn’t the result of particularly ill-intentioned owners. Instead, the researchers say it was mostly a matter of distraction from the dirty task at hand. And poop wasn’t the only issue. Distracted dog walkers were also less likely to catch their dogs entering undergrowth or disturbing nearby wildlife and livestock. Unchecked smartphone use, in other words, inadvertently made walkers crappier neighbors.
“Dog walkers are often portrayed as either responsible or irresponsible, but our research shows that the reality is far more complicated,” Tom Roberts, a study co-author and University of Surrey Senior Lecturer in Environmental Sociology, said in a statement. “Most people care deeply about their dogs and the countryside. Problems frequently arise because their attention is divided or because facilities do not match how dog walking actually happens.”
Dog walking: a moral conundrum
Observing dog-walker habits gave the researchers a glimpse into how people morally negotiate the responsibility of shared spaces in their daily lives. Walking dogs in the protected region, that also includes farmland, means balancing the interests of the dog walkers, the dogs, farmers, and the natural landscape itself. Overall, the team says the majority of dog walkers they observed were responsible stewards. Most consistently picked up after their pets, with some even collecting waste left behind by other animals. They also tended to adhere to other polite conventions, like keeping their dogs on a leash and on specified trails.
But issues arose when digital devices got involved. Unscooped poop tended to happen early in walks, concentrated near parking lots and along busy paths. Dogs weren’t sneakily waiting to poop in unsuspecting bushes or flower beds. They were more or less dutifully doing their business on a schedule. It was their owners who were shirking the job, temporarily blinded by the pull of social media and emails. A researcher describes the scene in the following field note included in the study.
“Many wore headphones or were on calls,” they wrote. “Some paced a short loop while talking; others stayed by the gate scrolling on their phones as their dogs ran around the field with little supervision.”
The team also interviewed 15 farmers, land managers, and countryside business owners to get their thoughts on how best to share the space with dog walkers. Broadly, the recommendations were to try and work with the walkers, rather than aggressively enforce new rules or restrictions. The study recommends placing plastic waste bins near areas where dogs often poop to make cleanup easier. They also suggested adding dedicated off-leash areas where dogs can run freely without disturbing the environment, as well as friendly signage explaining why fouling the area can be harmful.
“While dogs can deepen human engagement with nature, they also shape how landscapes are encountered and used,” the researchers write in the paper.
Distracted walks aren’t great for dogs, or their owners
This study took place in the calm, rural English countryside, and even there, some walkers were still drawn to devices. It may be even more likely in urban and suburban areas, where dog walking can often feel less like leisure and more like an obligation to push through. But distracted walking can cause problems for dogs, both physically and mentally.
On the physical side, owners staring at their phones are more likely to miss their dogs gobbling a sharp bone or other dangerous litter that could wreak havoc on their guts. They also might not see or hear the signals their dog is sending, like if they are getting tired, which could lead to injury. Dogs communicate with us mostly using body language, so when they look up only to see their owners far away in cyberspace, it can make them frustrated. Distracted walkers also might not notice another reactive dog nearby until they are so close that a scuffle breaks out. Listening to music, especially with noise-canceling headphones, can also drown out the subtle sounds of quickly approaching cyclists or, more frequently these days, e-scooter riders.
“When an owner is more attentive to their surroundings, they can be proactive versus reactive to these things,” University of California Davis Veterinary Medicine Professor of Clinical Animal Behavior Science Melissa Bain said in a recent interview with HuffPost.
Mentally, distracted walkers give more attention to their devices than to their pets, leaving the dog confused. Dogs have evolved to look to our eyes for information, including feedback that reinforces whether they did something good or bad. When they check in and there’s no connection, wires can get crossed. They can also get anxious if they don’t have enough time to sniff around on their walk, something that can be exacerbated by a distracted owner hurrying them along. Some Animal behaviorists liken dogs sniffing things on their walks to reading the newspaper or, perhaps more fitting in this case, checking social media.
And though the University of Surrey researchers have recommended more cooperative ways of dealing with unscooped dog poop, others are taking more assertive action. Apartment complexes around the United States are increasingly using services that collect discarded dog poop, take DNA samples from it, and trace it back to its owners to issue fines. In some cases, companies that act as the “Poo Police” have even appeared in eviction court.
That’s all a lot of trouble that could potentially be avoided by taking a brief break from screens and being present. Past research has even shown that dog walking and seeing your dog have fun can improve the dog walker’s mood.
Two researchers who study the debilitating sleep disorder have won a prestigious Lasker Award. Their research in animals laid the groundwork for a new drug that addresses the condition’s root cause.
“Do you want a treat, Milton?” “Do you want to go for a walk, Bernie?” Annnnd, cue the head tilt from your dog.
Many dogs turn their heads, perk their ears, and stand at attention when their humans say certain words. But why? Well, it’s not just cute. There’s some serious science and fascinating theories about dogs’ ability to understand language. On the latest episode of Ask Us Anything, we explain how dogs’ head tilting likely makes your furry friend able to listen and process information better.
Annie Colbert: And I’m editor-in-chief, Annie Colbert.
SD: Here at PopSci, we’re always pondering quirky questions.
AC: And this week, we’re wondering, why do dogs tilt their heads? So Sarah, tell us, why are our cute furry friends looking at us all askew?
SD: Well, scientists aren’t totally sure.
AC: Seriously? Something dogs do all the time, they don’t know why?
SD: I know, I know. There are a few theories out there, though. Maybe our pups are trying to hear us better.
AC: I guess that makes sense. I remember my dad used to kind of tilt his head when he didn’t have his hearing aids in.
SD: That might have just been a your dad thing.
AC: Yes, probably.
SD: Yeah, there’s also a chance dogs are trying to get a better look at our faces.
AC: That also feels plausible.
SD: But there’s another possibility that’s a lot more interesting.
AC: Ooh, okay.
SD: Researchers have found that some dogs are more likely to tilt their heads when they hear words they recognize.
AC: Wait, so they might be thinking?
SD: Maybe. That little head tilt could have something to do with how dogs pay attention to, and process, what we’re saying.
AC: Which somehow makes it even cuter.
SD: Right? So why do some dogs tilt more than others? What’s actually happening in their brains? And does your dog understand more of what you say than you realize?
AC: I must know.
SD: We’re gonna get into all of it. But before we do, we wanna hear from you. What questions are you head tilting, AKA thinking about?
AC: If there’s something you’ve always wanted to know, something that makes you tilt your head, submit your question by clicking the “Ask Us” link at popsci.com/ask.
SD: Send us your questions.
AC: Yes. And coming up, we’ll dig into what might actually be going on when your dog does that adorable little head tilt.
SD: And what it could tell us about how much they really understand when we talk to them.
AC: That’s after this quick break.
SD: Welcome back. Annie, now before we get into the science, I feel like we have to establish our dog credentials here. So did you grow up with dogs?
AC: Yes. We always had at least one dog growing up, everything from mixed breed dogs to cocker spaniels named after various bread products. We had both a Muffin and a Biscuit at one point.
And then we had pugs, and I think I can confidently say that pugs were definitely the biggest head tilters.
Annie’s parents’ pug, Herbie, pictured in 2007. Image: Annie Colbert / Popular Science
SD: Mm.
AC: And I always assumed it’s just because they were perpetually confused by life.
SD: I mean, aren’t we all? I grew up with Saint Bernards.
AC: Hmm.
SD: So my family has had, oh, five.
AC:Wow.
SD: And my grandmother, who started the trend, actually had something like nine throughout her life.
AC: What? That’s so many.
SD: I know. I love Saint Bernards. And Saint Bernards, at least the ones I’ve gotten to know, are not huge head tilters.
AC: Hmm, interesting. Is it maybe because their heads are just too heavy to tilt?
SD: There is a lot of head to move for a Saint Bernard. Hmm.
AC: Yeah.
SD: But our newest puppy, Tartufo, we call him Tufo, is actually a little bit of a head tilter, and sometimes if you say a word he knows, he’ll look right at you and just tip.
Tufo. Image: Sarah Durn / Popular Science
AC: Aw.
SD: I know, it’s so cute. I love him so much. He’s like a super sweet, like, expressive dog, so the head tilt just, you know, sends it over the edge.
AC: Love it.
SD: But here’s the really cool part: Tufo seems to head tilt more when he hears words he recognizes, and scientists think that might be a clue about what the head tilt actually means.
AC: All right, so what’s happening in that giant Saint Bernard brain?
SD: Potentially language processing.
AC: Excuse me?
SD: I know. Dogs have lived alongside humans for roughly 20,000 to 30,000 years, and over that time they’ve gotten remarkably good at dealing with this extremely weird thing humans do all day long.
AC: Talk at them.
SD: Constantly. And brain scans suggest dogs process parts of human speech in ways that are surprisingly similar to us. When a dog hears a familiar word, the left side of its brain becomes active, even if you change your tone of voice. But if you say an unfamiliar word using a familiar tone, the right side becomes more involved.
AC: So their brains are basically going, “Okay, I recognize that word,” versus, “I don’t know what you’re saying, but you sound excited.”
SD: Yeah, and that brings us to a 2025 study that basically asked, okay, where does the adorable head tilt fit into all of this? Researchers recruited 103 dog owners and had them film their dogs in four different situations.
First: Dog doing nothing.
AC: A challenging assignment for most dogs.
SD: Totally. Totally. And then second: Owner silently staring at dog.
AC: It’s kind of intimidating.
SD: Right. And then, this is my favorite: Owner talking to dog about ancient Egyptian civilization.
AC: Finally, that canine Egyptology study we were always waiting for.
SD: Exactly. I know everyone was on the edge of their seats. The idea was, you know, to give dogs speech that was neutral or unfamiliar. And then in the final and fourth condition, owners used familiar words with a warm, excited tone.
AC: Like, “Wanna go for a walk?”
SD: Exactly. And that is when the head tilt really showed up.
Dogs tilted much more often when their owners were saying familiar things in that enthusiastic, excited way.
AC: So they weren’t just reacting to the sound. Right.
SD: Courtney Sexton, one of the authors of the study, described it as a kind of communicative exchange. The dog isn’t necessarily going, “Ah, yes, I fully comprehend this sentence,” but something about you talking to them using words they know seems to make that little head go sideways.
AC: Which feels like watching the loading wheel appear over their little brains.
SD: Oh, yeah, totally. Like… Processing, processing, walk detected.
AC: Uh, that is exactly what it sounds like.
SD: Oh, yeah, 100%. And, you know, somehow this all gets a little weirder. Because researchers also noticed that most of the dogs who tilted went to the right.
AC: Huh. There’s a preferred head tilt direction?
SD: Apparently. And there’s a possible brain connection here. Brains process sensory information contralaterally, which is a fancy way of saying that the left side of the brain is connected to the right side of the body and vice versa. So one hypothesis is that a right head tilt could be connected to the dog engaging the left hemisphere of the brain, the side involved in processing familiar language.
AC: So we might literally be seeing the dog’s brain work.
SD: Maybe, but, you know, giant asterisk here. Researchers are not saying right tilt equals language happening. That part is still very much a hypothesis. The study also had another really weird result.
AC: What’s that?
SD: Male dogs tilted more often than female dogs, and when they tilted, male dogs leaned further to the right.
AC: Why are boy dogs so dramatic?
SD: Aren’t all guys, really? Scientists don’t really know why this is happening yet, but one possibility is that male and female dogs may use their brain hemispheres a little differently when processing language. But only around 40 of the 103 dogs in the study actually tilted at all, so the researchers are very cautious about drawing any sort of broad conclusion.
AC: All right. But dogs don’t only tilt their head when people talk to them, right?
SD: Right. And this is where our very satisfying head tilt equals language explanation gets messier. Another study found dogs tilting their heads after being startled by a jack-in-the-box.
AC: Okay, that’s a reasonable response to a jack-in-the-box.
SD: Yeah, extremely reasonable. And that suggests, though, that head tilting might have something to do with novelty or surprise, not just language. There’s even this possibility called cognitive offloading.
AC: Which sounds like something I need at the end of every workday.
SD: Oh my gosh, same. Um, yeah, basically we make a physical gesture while our brain is working something out. You furrow your brow, you exhale, you stare into space for five seconds while trying to remember why you walked into the kitchen.
AC: Constantly.
SD: Same. The head tilt could be a dog version of that, a little physical reset while their brain processes something new.
But Courtney Sexton from that study we talked about doesn’t think that explains the whole thing because in the 2025 experiment, the dogs tilted overwhelmingly during the social language condition.
AC: Okay, I have another scientific hypothesis.
SD: Shoot.
AC: Dogs know that the head tilt makes us powerless to their adorableness.
SD: That is actually an important scientific question.
AC: Called it.
SD: You did, because humans do rate head tilting dogs as cuter. But Sexton doesn’t think dogs are sitting there plotting, you know, “If I rotate my head 15 degrees, perhaps she’ll give me cheese.”
AC: But you cannot prove they’re not.
SD: Okay, fair, but there is a reason it absolutely destroys us.
During domestication, dogs develop something called neoteny, meaning adult dogs retain juvenile features like large eyes and soft facial proportions, basically permanent baby face, and humans are very, very responsive to baby face. So the head tilt isn’t necessarily designed to be cute.
AC: We’re just helpless against it.
SD: Exactly. Which brings us back to the original question: why do dogs tilt their heads? And the slightly frustrating answer is: Scientists still don’t completely know.
It could involve language processing, attention, surprise, maybe even that little physical reset while the brain figures something out. But the strongest evidence we have suggests that at least sometimes the head tilt is a visible sign that your dog is actively processing and responding to you.
So when Tufo hears a word that he knows and tilts his head, that enormous Saint Bernard brain may actually be hard at work.
AC: Thinking important thoughts.
SD: Extremely important thoughts. Probably mostly about snacks.
AC: Yes. But now I have a question.
SD: Yes, go.
AC: If we can use something like a head tilt to get a tiny glimpse into what a dog is thinking, can we actually tell how smart a dog is?
SD: Funny you should ask, because the internet has come up with some pretty questionable ways to test your dog’s IQ.
AC: All right, I’m intrigued.
SD: And scientists have some much better ones.
AC: Unsurprising.
SD: Unsurprising. Now, we have to take a quick break, but when we come back, we’ll explain how you can actually test your dog’s IQ.
AC: I mean, Tufo genuinely sounds like a genius.
SD: I mean, he is. I won’t argue with, with that at all.
AC: Welcome back. Okay, Sarah, before the break, you promised that we could actually put Tufo’s brain to the test.
SD: I did. Because we spent this whole episode talking about what his head tilt might tell us about what’s happening inside his brain, naturally the next question is how smart is my adorable little Saint Bernard?
AC: Little?
SD: He’ll always be a little puppy to me.
AC: Debatable. Anyhow, uh, I’ve seen a pet IQ test online called the wall test where you hold up your dog and you slowly move them toward a wall to see if they put their paws out.
SD: Yes, yes. I’ve seen that one, too, but I don’t think anyone’s lifting Tufo, and that might actually be a good thing because experts say you should not do the wall test.
AC: Really?
SD: Yes. Don’t do it. Whether a dog sticks out their paw actually has nothing to do with intelligence. It’s a neurological reflex vets use to check that a dog’s nervous system is working properly, kind of like when a doctor taps your knee and your leg automatically kicks.
AC: Hmm. So it’s not really an IQ test at all.
SD: No.
AC: But how do I find out if my dog is a genius?
SD: Well, obviously they are. But scientists would say that’s actually the wrong question.
AC: Rude.
SD: Because there isn’t one thing called dog intelligence. Some dogs are amazing problem solvers, some are great navigators, and some are especially good at reading us.
AC: Which feels especially relevant after an entire episode about dogs listening to us.
SD: Exactly. And you can test this even at home. Just grab two identical cups and a treat. While your dog isn’t looking, hide the treat under one cup, then put both cups down and either point at the correct cup or just look at it, and then let your dog choose which cup they’re drawn to.
AC: So if they pick up the right cup…
SD: They successfully read your social cue. That’s a skill called social cognition.
AC: Hmm. Genius.
SD: Good at one particular type of cognition.
AC: Or genius.
SD: Fine. Genius. All dogs are geniuses. Yeah. But if they choose the wrong cup or, you know, just wander off down the hallway, that doesn’t mean they’re dumb. Dogs have different strengths, and just like us, they have to actually be motivated to participate.
AC: So if my dog completely ignores my carefully designed scientific experiment…
SD: You might just need better treats.
AC: Fair.
SD: And I think that brings us right back to the head tilt. One cute little behavior cannot tell us exactly what’s happening inside our dog’s brain, alas.
But it can give us a clue and remind us that there’s a whole lot going on behind those puppy dog eyes.
AC: Even when it looks like there absolutely is not.
SD: Watch it.
And that’s it for this episode. But don’t worry, we’ve got more episodes of Ask Us Anything live in our feed right now. Follow or subscribe to Ask Us Anything by Popular Science wherever you enjoy your podcasts. And if you like our show, leave a rating and review.
AC: We care what you think. We care what your dogs think, geniuses or not. Our producer is Alan Haburchak, and this week’s episode was based on stories written for Popular Science by Nidhi Sharma and Clarissa Brinkett.
SD: Thank you, team, thank you, dogs, and thanks everyone for listening.
AC: And one more time, if you want something you’ve always wondered about explained on a future episode, go to popsci.com/ask and click the “Ask Us” link. Keep the questions coming. Till next time, may your dog always listen when you call.
SD: May your pockets be full of sufficiently motivating treats.
AC: And may your dog’s head tilts always be ridiculously cute.
SD: Like, they can never not be. They’re always cute.
Any dog owner would tell you that their canine companions are attuned to their humans' emotional state and respond accordingly. Scientists have performed fMRI scans on dogs and identified a specific brain region that processes happy human facial expresses, like a smile, according to a new paper published in the journal iScience. They also found that dogs can tell the difference between negative facial expressions, specifically anger, sadness, and fear.
“Humans are really good at picking up small details on the face, and so are dogs,” said co-author Raúl Hernández-Pérez of the University of Vienna. “This makes dogs very interesting. By studying their brains, we can understand what adaptations have developed to support their remarkable social and emotional understanding of humans.”
Prior behavioral studies have shown that dogs are sensitive to emotion in human faces. Dogs will, for example, choose a box their human has identified with a happy expression over one the human treats with fear or disgust. Past fMRI studies found that an area in the canine left temporal cortex showed a stronger response to human faces compared to dog faces, as well as a greater response in the caudate, hippocampus, and amygdala to human faces showing emotion versus neutral faces.
Any dog owner would tell you that their canine companions are attuned to their humans' emotional state and respond accordingly. Scientists have performed fMRI scans on dogs and identified a specific brain region that processes happy human facial expresses, like a smile, according to a new paper published in the journal iScience. They also found that dogs can tell the difference between negative facial expressions, specifically anger, sadness, and fear.
“Humans are really good at picking up small details on the face, and so are dogs,” said co-author Raúl Hernández-Pérez of the University of Vienna. “This makes dogs very interesting. By studying their brains, we can understand what adaptations have developed to support their remarkable social and emotional understanding of humans.”
Prior behavioral studies have shown that dogs are sensitive to emotion in human faces. Dogs will, for example, choose a box their human has identified with a happy expression over one the human treats with fear or disgust. Past fMRI studies found that an area in the canine left temporal cortex showed a stronger response to human faces compared to dog faces, as well as a greater response in the caudate, hippocampus, and amygdala to human faces showing emotion versus neutral faces.
Though expensive, they’re gradually becoming a more attractive option over human security guards. At least, that’s according to new reporting by Business Insider, which notes that the cost to cover one 24/7 guard shift is anywhere from $80,000 to $130,000 cheaper per year when contracting robot dogs over human security officers.
That’s bad news for the nation’s security guards, an essential role providing low-barrier employment for uneducated workers. Often deployed to help property owners reduce insurance premiums, the role of security guard is an important source of income for some 1.3 million people. According to a report by the UC Berkeley Labor Center, about 60.8 percent of those roles are filled by people of color, while 27.8 percent of guards are 55 or older.
It is, however, a difficult job to make a living on, with the median annual wage of just $38,390 as of 2024. That being the case, the industry faces a high degree of turnover, which tech companies are all too happy to exploit.
“Training them and staffing them is super inconsistent, and it’s a big burden on the business,” Damon Henry, CEO of robot dog company Asylon, told BI.
So far, Henry says he has about 50 robots deployed across 25 customers nationwide. Compared to a workforce of 1.3 million humans, that might not sound like much. But if robotic production lines get more efficient and the bots themselves become cheaper to roll out, it’s hard to imagine the nation’s businesses keeping low-paid security guards on the payroll out of charity (just look at what happened with Walmart greeters.)
Still, you probably haven’t bumped into your last mall cop quite yet. As director of the UC Berkeley Labor Center’s Low-Wage Work program and co-author of the report referenced above Enrique Lopezlira told BI, the role is likely to experience pressures similar to that of other workers facing automation: security jobs won’t disappear entirely, but they will get much more demanding.
“The realistic near-term effect is not that guards are replaced,” Lopezlira said. “The human role is going to be pushed toward those hardest, higher-stakes parts of the work.”
A dog’s nose is a gateway to a richer world, and scent-filled walks, games, and food hunts can transform boredom and stress into excitement, focus, and discovery. While we are captivated by a vivid sunset and breathtaking views, dogs have their noses to the ground, reading the odor stories left behind by other dogs and [...]
Researchers in Austria have developed a four-legged robot that could make firefighting operations safer by entering dangerous areas and detecting hazardous substances before firefighters have to go in. The robot, developed under the leadership of researchers at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), is designed to act as an advance scout during emergencies involving toxic […]
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