Nobody Understands You Like Your Dog
Feb. 20, 2015
Dogs are remarkable judges of human character (such qualities as honesty and reliability), according to Japanese behavioral scientists at Kyoto University. Their study, published this week in the journal Animal Cognition, found that dogs will stop following the commands or other cues of a particular person once they decide that human is unreliable. Such research indicates that dogs have a sophisticated form of social intelligence that probably developed over their long association with humans.
Dogs were the first animals domesticated (made tame) by humans. Scientists believe that dogs and people have lived with each other for at least 14,000 years. During that time, dog breeders have developed more than 400 breeds to perform various tasks and provide companionship. The intelligence, loyalty, and special abilities of many dog breeds make them ideal pets in nearly every society.
In a series of experiments with 34 different dogs, Japanese researchers pointed to a container that held a hidden food treat as a subject dog watched them. Previous research has shown that domestic dogs understand when a human points at an object. In the first stages of the experiment, the researcher always pointed to a container that held a treat. However, in later rounds, the researcher would point to containers that the dogs found were empty. In even later rounds, the same researcher once again pointed to a container that held a hidden treat. However, the dogs would no longer respond to a researcher who had previously steered them wrong.
The experiment shows that dogs are quick to respond to clues and commands given by humans, but they are equally quick to determine if a particular human is trustworthy. Most wild members of the dog family, such as wolves and coyotes, have a complex social organization and system of communication involving vocal cues and body positions. However, the scientists argue that the level of understanding of human body language and behavior demonstrated by domestic dogs far surpasses that of their wild ancestors.
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