Have you ever tried to trick your dog, allegedly throwing a ball to him or directing him in the wrong direction, but he doesn’t get along with your scam? According to the latest studies, our furry friends very quickly realise which person should not be trusted and in time they start to ignore them.
To establish this, researchers led by Akika Takaoka from a university in the Japanese city of Kyoto examined 34 dogs in three rounds. In the first round, they excitedly showed the dogs where the food was hidden and thus gained trust. But in the second round, the same examiners lied because they showed the dogs an empty container. In the third round, the examiners showed the food bowl again, but the dogs did not react anymore, which clearly indicates a certain level of distrust or at least confusion.
To determine exactly what it was, the researchers brought in a new examiner whom the dogs did not know. He excitedly pointed to the food bowl and the dogs reacted well again.