Can Dogs Really Tell If Someone is Untrustworthy?
When it comes to dogs, we have to admit that they are smart creatures. They are socially aware of each other and humans as well. According to the one research on dogs, they can sense when an individual is untrustworthy.
That is something we all thought our dogs could do, but now it seems is scientifically proven. Yes, dogs can understand just how reliable one individual is.
This research shows that once a dog had decided that a particular individual is unreliable, they stop following the cues of that individual.
For years it is known that dogs can understand what it means when a person points at something. For example, if their owner points to the location of food, ball, or stick, the dog shall run and simply explore that location.
So, what does this research show? It shows that dogs are fast to figure out if these pointing gestures are actually misleading. Interesting, right? Read on to find just how smart your furry friend is.
More About the Study
The Journal Animal Cognition published this study. The team was led by Akiko Takaoka, who is part of Kyoto University. In this study, they presented 34 dogs with 3 different rounds of pointing.
In the very first round, they pointed to the place where the food was hidden in a container. However, in the second round, the experimenters actually pointed to a container that was empty.
In the final, third round, they pointed to the container with food. However, in the third round, the dog didn’t respond to the cue of the experimenters.
According to Takaoka, this means that the dogs use their experience with the experimenter to evaluate whether they were a guide who is reliable. After all 3 rounds, a new experimenter simply replicated the very first round.
And the dog’s follower this new individual with interest. It turns out that dogs have more social intelligence than we previously thought. This is probably something that evolved thanks to their long life history with human beings.
What this study does is that it highlights that dogs prefer predictable things. This was said by John Bradshaw from the University of Bristol located in the UK, who wasn’t part of the research.
The replicated round with the new individual just proved that dogs are fascinated with new things. In a way, they are “information junkies.”
However, the most important thing here is that people aren’t able to mislead dogs. You see, when a dog faces a situation, it shall respond to what is found there. They cannot think deeply about what really is going on.
In case you mislead your very own dog, it won’t serve or trust you anymore. Also, if your dog does not like your friends, there may be something wrong with those close people you think are your friends.
So, do you have a dog? Have you seen your dog acting strange around certain people? What do you notice and can you agree with the study above-mentioned?
