Surprisingly, only the untrained border collies followed her gaze-the trained animals ignored it. Wallis then observed the dogs' reactions as she gazed toward a door. The researchers wanted to see if age, habituation, or training influenced the dog's tendency to follow a human's gaze. In recent experiments, Wallis and her colleagues recruited 145 pet border collies with a range of training levels and ages. "We know they should be able to do it," says Wallis, leader of the research published in August in the journal Animal Behaviour, but training was the "missing piece of the puzzle." (See "5 Amazing Stories of Devoted Dogs.") Now, a new study suggests dogs also follow human gazes into blank space-but only if they're untrained. Gaze following is instinctual for many animals-including humans, chimps, goats, dolphins, and even the red-footed tortoise-because it alerts animals to everything from immediate threats to "a particularly tasty berry bush," says Lisa Wallis, a doctoral student at the Messerli Research Institute in Vienna, Austria.ĭogs were previously thought to follow human gazes only when food or toys were involved. So are dogs taking sides by ignoring the people who are mean to their owners? Only future research will tell.Īn experiment shows how dogs can empathize with human emotions. (See "Can Dogs Feel Our Emotions? Yawn Study Suggests Yes.") Scientists have previously observed similar results in human infants and tufted capuchin monkeys. However, in the helper group, the dogs did not favor either the helper or the neutral person over the other. In the non-helper group, canines most frequently favored the neutral person's treat, shunning the non-helper. In all experiments, a third, "neutral" person sat in the room.Īfter the first round of experiments, the neutral person and the helper or non-helper both offered treats to the dog. In the control group, the additional person turned his or her back without being asked for help. In the non-helper group, the owner asked for help from a person, who then turned their back without helping. In the helper group, the owner requested help from another person, who held the container. The dogs were divided into three groups: helper, non-helper, and control. In a new study, scientists tested 54 dogs that each watched their owners struggle to retrieve a roll of tape from a container. (Read "Animal Minds" in National Geographic magazine.) Social eavesdropping-or people-watching-is central to human social interactions, since it allows us to figure out who's nice and who's mean.Īccording to a study published in August in the journal Animal Behaviour, our dogs listen in too.
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