We are aware of the vast intelligence of our dogs. In fact, we have been maximizing their intelligence day by day. They guard our house, guide the blinds, and help with police investigations, to name a few.
But did you know that these dogs deserve even more credit than that? It was discovered that they can learn to understand language. Above all, another study shows that they are also strategize to get things to go their way. Isn’t it amazing?
Well, do you still think that these dogs are not more than what they are? Let us all admit that we have underestimated their capacity and capabilities for a very long time. For us to prove that these fellas can actually trick, we have compiled some of the results for your consumption. 😉
Dogs are smarter than what we actually think.
The study was conducted on 27 dogs of different breeds between the ages of 1.5 and 14 years old to see if they would try and deceive people they didn’t like. It turns out that dogs are able to lie to humans with their behavior if it means they can get what they want.
These furballs know how to deceive us.
The first step that the researchers did was to determine the dog’s favorite treat — sausage or a dog biscuit. After they determined the desired treats, they would show 3 boxes to the dogs: one containing their favorite treat, another one with their second favorite treat, and an empty box. Two women research personnel give the command, “Show me the food” and show the ladies to the box that contains the food they like.
Since the researchers want to test the dogs’ behavior towards different types of people, they made one of the two women “cooperative” and “generous,” while the other was “uncooperative” and “selfish.”
If the researchers bring the “cooperative” and “generous” woman to the dogs, she would bring the dogs their preferred treat. The second woman, on the other hand, once brought to the dogs would not give them the treats and keep it treat in her pocket.
After doing this, then the dogs would go back to their owners who would give them the same command and the owners would reward them with what’s in the box. If the box was already empty because the food was previously taken by the “uncooperative” and “selfish.” woman, the dogs would get nothing.
By having the two ladies carry different attitude towards the dogs, the researchers were able to condition the dogs’ thinking on who was the better option. So now, the dogs knew who was the better option for them to getting their desired treats.
The results showed that the dogs would lead the “generous” woman to their preferred food almost 80% of the time. Whereas the “selfish” woman was led to their favorite food only less than 20% of the time. This led the researchers to the conclusion that dogs are able to lie to us if it benefits them.
Dogs are loyal, but can still trick you.
Of course, the research is not telling us that we can no longer trust our dogs. We know that will and always will be sweet, loyal, and trustworthy.
However, it is good for us to know that they are not entirely selfless beings, because now we can be more aware that they could fake some behaviors just to get something in return. This way we can be more careful when rewarding our canine companions.
So, have you been tricked by your dogs before? Show us a picture of your mischievous furry pets and tag anyone you know who has a dog! We’d love to hear from you. 😉
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