By Souls of Silver
Dogs are people’s best friend. No doubt about that. But where does that stem from? After all, they can’t speak, so how do we realize that they actually trust us or not? In fact, are they really accurate in their judgment? See, we are sure that dogs do trust their owners and are extremely loyal. But, where does that come from? What does one owner need to do in order to be trusted?
Well, there has been a study conducted in Japan which points out that dogs do understand facial expressions. They can sense different emotions and feelings, by simply looking at us. Something, that humans are incapable of. So, even if you seem to be putting on a straight face while bluffing your dog would be able to understand. They can be great judge of character. Haven’t you ever wondered why dogs look at what you point at? Well, they might take some time to decide whether you are trustworthy or not, but they can judge your character impeccably.
Read: Did You Know That Cats Are Our Biggest Guardian Against Evil
Study Number 1
The study had the following test:
34 dogs were selected, and every single dog was taken through the following three processes and these were the findings:-
- A person led the dog to a container with food, the dog was ecstatic.
- When the person misled the dog to a container with no food, the dog realized the bluff.
- When the same person would again take the dog to a container with food, the dog didn’t follow.
This meant that the dog called the human’s bluff and decided that they weren’t trustworthy. And this was done by 34 dogs and with 34 different individuals. The result was the same.
The only doubt is whether this particular trait of understanding human emotions is because of their evolution as domesticated partners of human beings or just a natural trait. To get more knowledge of the latter, Takaoka, the lead scientist on this project would be doing the same experiment on wolves and see their rate of receptivity.
The important thing to note here is that, it is better to not play with your dog’s trust for what seems like a prank to you, might mess up your relationship with your dog.
Study Number 2
Another bone of contention (no pun intended) is how dogs can bond with their owners while simultaneously not trusting others. For this purpose, a dog and its owner were used. A researcher would come up, be nice to the owner and give the dog a treat. Similarly, another researcher came up, but behaved badly with the owner. The dog would happily gobble it up the treat given by the nice stranger, because it has developed a trust. When the rude stranger offered a treat to the dog, the dog rejected it.
While this also gives one an idea of how a dog’s mind works, it also tells us that they are aware of social interactions, and what different human interactions signify. These studies prove that dogs actually understand human emotions because they have evolved with humans.
Read: Is Your Pet Living Their Best Life After Passing Away?
So be kind to your pets as they can be good judge of character. They are as feeling and emotional as we humans.
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