system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Do dogs understand that puppies they have are actually THEIRS or just instinctively take care of young puppies?

Why or why not in regards to if they understand?
gpt
* No, they don't understand that it is theirs. Not on a conscious level anyway. They are not thinking about their puppies.

* They may be able to distinguish their puppies from others based on prior familiarity or attributes like scent...but it is possible to trick them (and other species mothers) in this regard. This is about instinct, their nose smelling a chemical identifier that sends a signal to the brain that stimulates the dog to lick or pay attention to that puppy. No thoughts needed. Just stimuli and response. They may smell another puppy that is not their own and since there is no stimuli there is no response. 

* You can trick human females too by accidentally mixing up the babies at the hospital. As long as the features are more or less plausible, a mother might never know its not her biological child.