Dogs understand human perspective, say researchers

[hue]

Source: BBC News

Dogs are more capable of understanding situations from a human's point of view than has previously been recognised, according to researchers.

They found dogs were four times more likely to steal food they had been forbidden, when lights were turned off so humans in the room could not see.

This suggested the dogs were able to alter their behaviour when they knew their owners' perspective had changed.

The study, published in Animal Cognition, conducted tests on 84 dogs.
The experiments had been trying to find whether dogs could adapt their behaviour in response to the changed circumstances of their human owners.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-21411249

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Looks like humans have trouble understanding others' perspectives more so than dogs.

[BainsBane]

1. absolutely

Dogs watch your every move. Even as puppies they pay closer attention to adults than do any other animal. It's because we provide their food and care. My dog knows my daily habits, when she hears something promising, and when she's about to get a walk or something else fun.

[MynameisBlarney]

2. What the?

Those sneaky, backstabbin bastages!

[Duer 157099]

3. Anyone with a dog already knows this

Cats can also do this, but researchers found that most cats don't give a shit what their owners say or think.

[Neoma]

15. My cat literately walks around like she's the boss.

Never seen another cat walk like that actually... But then, this cat licks strangers faces and loves to watch things fall off shelves, and swats at my food...

[Gormy Cuss]

26. Does she swat you too?

If I don't get the refill to the cat's food dish fast enough he'll swat my leg as if to say "Snap to it!"

[Neoma]

38. No, but she runs up to my husband and waves her paws around like she's doing karate moves, then runs

[obamanut2012]

27. I think we have the same cat

[Neoma]

36. Is she obsessed with drains and the water going down them?

[Rhiannon12866]

44. My aunt's cat, Maggie, was like that

She was fascinated with watching the toilet flushing, LOL, would sit there and move her head to follow the swirling water...

[markpkessinger]

29. She is the boss -- you just don't know it yet! ;) n/t

[Occulus]

33. Well, you know the saying.

Dogs have masters; cats have staff.

[awoke_in_2003]

34. When you feed a dog...

it thinks "you gave me food. You must be a god". When you feed a cat it thinks "you gave me food. I must be a god".

[Auntie Bush]

4. I trust my dog's every move when I'm there but should I leave the room

a snack just might disappear off the end table.

[get the red out]

5. Absolutely!

My dog will see me looking at the computer and sneak around and steal a sock.

[samsingh]

6. i love animals and i think they are far more sentient than people realize or accept

that's one of the reason's i'm a vegetarian.

[hue]

18. I agree with You & Thanks for respecting their lives!!

[RebelOne]

21. Agree. That is one of the reasons I am a vegetarian. n/t

[ronnie624]

43. *

[KurtNYC]

7. This seems more like a training thing than an understanding that our

eyes are not as light sensitive as theirs.

Many people train their dogs to wait for an "ok" before eating.

[TrogL]

16. My three dogs understand each other around food

The cat likes wet cat food, but only the gravy, leaving the rest. I divvy it up into three portions in the bowl. The dogs hear th is and come running. I will call each dog in turn, they come get their portion, then leave. If one dog hasn't made it, I will tell one dog to go fetch the missing dog. Only the dog addressed leaves, only the dog fetched comes back.

And if anyone thinks dogs can't count, show a dog five treats, put them in your pocket, give the dog four, then attempt to get anything else accomplished that day.

[markpkessinger]

35. More than likely it isn't that the dog can count . . .

. . . but that he can smell the remaining treat in your pocket.

[DBoon]

41. Science proves dogs CAN count

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2619-lab-tricks-show-dogs-can-count.html

"To test the idea, Young and his colleague Rebecca West of De Montfort University in Lincoln, UK, borrowed a technique that has been used to show that five-month-old babies can count.
Sleight of hand

A number of toy dolls are placed in front of a baby and then a screen is raised to hide them. The infant then watches as some dolls are added or taken away before the screen is lowered to reveal the final result.

If the experimenter has played a trick and surreptitiously added or taken away a doll, the baby looks at the dolls for much longer, presumably because he or she had done the calculation and the number of dolls contradicts the baby's expectations.

Young and West repeated the experiment on 11 mongrels using doggie treats. Sure enough, the dogs stared at the bowls for much longer when the sums did not add up. "

[docgee]

47. They can count, my dog knows how many tennis balls are in the yard. nt

[Scuba]

8. "Well, duh" said dog owners everywhere.

[Hissyspit]

14. You beat me to it.

And, frankly, cats, too. Not the same as dogs, but I'm amazed at how much more intelligent and aware my cats are then what people generally think.

It's becoming clear that many animals are more intelligent than ever previously thought.

[Blue_Tires]

22. +1000

[Still Blue in PDX]

49. My first thought, too. nt

[ashling]

9. Sounds like they found out why Coyotes hunt at night

they know that their prey can't see them as well as in the daylight.

or maybe

dogs are concerned about their weight and how they look in the mirror in the light

[Myrina]

10. Well I do agree but I don't think the study proved it ...

... read the article a couple times and it just didn't convince me.

Being the mom to 4 furr-kids and foster mom to over a dozen, I gotta say based on experience, yeah - they get it.

[1monster]

11. Cats, too. I have seven cats, one of which is on a special diet because she

was losing weight on what the other cats were eating.

As long as I'm watching, one of my cats will not try to take the food away from the special diet cat. But let me look away for any reason, even if I am still standing in the room, and he is up in a flash at the other cat's food. If he knows I'm watching, he just sits there waiting for his chance...

[Kalidurga]

12. It's not just food...

When I am with my dog she doesn't bark at anything. When she things I am not watching or can't hear her she barks at just about everything, squirrels, rabbits, other dogs, a leaf falling...

[maryland native]

13. But sometimes they violate rules with a noble reason

I am a dog fanatic and love observing their nature.

One thing that completely amazes me is when a dog that is well trained is intentionally disobedient for the right reason.

I draw your attention to a guide dog for the blind.

The dog must obey its handler, but when it learns of a clear hazard, it is willfully disobedient.

The blind handler wishes to cross a street and the dog realizes a hazard approaches.

The dog refuses to put the person in danger!!!

Wow!

Dogs are so sensitive.

[markpkessinger]

30. An ex-partner of mine's father . . .

. . . was the training director for Guiding Eyes for the Blind, and his wife the lead trainer. They truly are extraordinary animals.

One thing I found interesting was that they actually did not prefer German Shepherds for the job. The reason was that German Shepherds had a high burn-out rate because they were almost TOO smart -- they had a tendency to take on too much responsibility, and after a time became nervous wrecks. They actually much preferred to train Golden Retrievers and Labs.

[hue]

17. just one among many examples...

I wanted to cut more rhubarb for my cherry rhubarb pie so I thought I'd run out to the garden for a few moments to pull a few more stalks. The pie dough had already been rolled out. As soon as I got back into the kitchen our black Lab Missy had taken the pie dough and was gulping it down. She looked at me as I entered the door with Her head hanging down in guilt/shame yet I swear Her lips were curled a tad with a little hidden smile. ( I hadn't said a word to Her yet to initiate the guilt.)

[Thor_MN]

39. There is a NOVA episode that explorers (among other things) the "guilt" look from dogs

They had a pet owner bring their dog into a room and tell the dog not to take the treat on the floor, then leave the room. The observer would call the owner back when the treat was gone. The dog would immediately give the "guilt" look when the owner came back into the room having hard that the dog took the treat. Only thing is, the treat was taken by the observer, not the dog.

Their conclusion is that dogs have no sense of guilt, they just know what behavior gets them in the least amount of trouble when their owners are not happy with them.

[Auntie Bush]

19. Welcome to DU.

Have you checked out our pet's group? It's cool!

[IDemo]

20. My dog's response to food left on countertop and no humans around:

[Paladin]

23. Brought To You By The Painfully Obvious Facts Bureau. (nt)

[Cleita]

24. We got one that steals the cats' food when no one is looking and she

knows she is being naughty.

[xtraxritical]

25. My dog actually tries to talk but his mouth just can't do it.

[KTinaY2008]

28. Is your dog Husky?

I have a Husky mix and he is very "talkative".

[xtraxritical]

31. No he's a mutt that looks alot like a small (90lb) St. Bernard, he's very very smart and tries

to move his mouth to talk, I know he would if he could. About 30 years ago I did have a Husky and she knew the command "speak" very well.

[wellstone dem]

32. My dogs watched for squirrels out my daughter's bedroom window

and then would come whine to me in a signal that they needed to go outside. I'd open the door and they'd go barreling out. Then 20 minutes later they'd need to go out again. It took me days to figure out why they were doing that. (My daughter had left for college and so her door was left open unlike before.) I finally realized what was going on, closed that door, and all was calm again.

But I was amazed at the multi-step strategy they had figured out.

[Sunlei]

37. dogs do understand their humans and can adapt their lives to fit in better.

so do a lot of other companion animals.

I think it's wondrous, they all have different personalities just like people.

[Beacool]

40. They wasted money on a study?

Anyone who ever owned a dog could have told them about their pooch's antics. Dogs know perfectly well when they did something that they weren't supposed to do.

[womanofthehills]

42. My dog got jealous of my baby kitten

I had to bottle feed an orphan baby kitten who was a week old and my dog became very jealous. My dog kept taking the kitten gently in his mouth far from the house. Every time I couldn't find the kitten, I'd say to my dog "Where is baby?" and he would take me to the end of his run or down the hill - wherever he left the kitten. The poor kitten was always all wet from my dog's mouth but unhurt. I had 3 other cats that my dog was fine with but he was really jealous of my time spent with the kitten.

[Rhiannon12866]

45. Wow! That's a fascinating story! Did he change when the kitten grew up?

This reminds me of my dog, Barney. I adopted him at age 10 or 11, a cocker spaniel who had been a "stud dog" at a "commercial kennel" and fortunately was rescued when he got too old and they didn't need him anymore. *sigh*

I was told he needed a "special home," since he wasn't housebroken and hadn't lived with people, spent his entire life on a kennel run. He was rescued by a wonderful woman who worked with him for three months before he was available for adoption.

Barney was truly remarkable. Everything was new to him, would get excited when he saw a lawn sprinkler or tree stump and was terrified of cars. But he adapted immediately, was the best dog I ever had for not having accidents in the house and he had the most wonderful temperament.

Strangely, he seemed to have no affinity for other animals. I adopted a second rescue cocker from the same woman 2 1/2 years later and two cats five years later, took my uncle's two cats when he died. Barney completely ignored them, even the sweet little cat who seemed to prefer dogs and would try to play with him, but he'd just walk away. But he showed great affection to most humans and he was just so loveable.

My second cocker would absolutely refuse to go out if it was raining or even if it was about to. One time I took her out and walked her all over before the rain started since I knew she'd refuse to go later.

And when I finally brought her in, her bed was all wet. I really couldn't figure it out. It finally dawned on me much later when the same thing happened again and I saw it. Barney, who never went in the house, purposely urinated on her bed! This was the only time I ever saw him act like this. I was "his person" and he was jealous and he was letting me know...

[beevul]

46. Absolutely.

They should look at american eskimo dogs in particular, for this.

LOL.

(Eski people, you know what I'm getting at, and you know its true lol.)

[Evasporque]

48. bullshit....dogs see with thier nose, are predators and opprotunistic scavangers...

turning the lights out tips the advantage in the dogs favour and they can easily locate and scavenge a meal in the dark.

It is not that dogs understand a human perspective...it is that they know what they can do in the dark...the lights go out, the situation changes and the dog tests the limits...when there is no response from the human they proceed.

[prole_for_peace]

50. I watched a show on dogs that showed this.

There was one experiment where the owner sat in a chair, had the dog sit and placed a treat on the floor. They told the dog not to eat it. The poor dogs would look at the treat, look at the owner, look at the treat....but the dogs did not eat the treat.

Then they did it again but had the owner close their eyes. The dogs would look at the treat, look at the owners and then *gulp* treat gone.

It was fascinating.

[Lint Head]

51. So.... that's where my beer and summer sausage has been going! That little sneak!

[Lint Head]

52. Now they go joy riding when the owner isn't looking.