Dogs are said to be a man’s best friend, and according to new research, this might just be right.
A new study has shown that dogs can feel if a person is untrustworthy, with bad intentions and they won’t act all cuddly around them. It is already a known fact that dogs are very intelligent and can learn lots of commands and communicate with their owners, but this new study by the Kyoto University of Japan went even beyond that.
The experiments were conducted by Akiko Takaoka and his team and they tested if dogs could trust someone who is lying. The experiment was comprised of several test groups, so the result would be highly accurate, and it had 34 dogs as participants.
In the first round of the experiment, the team pointed to a container with dog food. The dogs ran there and expected a reward.
In the second part, the dogs would run to an empty container to which the research team pointed. In this case, there was no reward waiting for them.
In the final part, the team would again point to the full container, but the dog would not respond as it got misleading information in the previous round.
Dogs usually trust their owners (Credit: Victoria Standen)
The conclusion was that the dogs did not respond to in the end, because they spotted the lie. All the 34 dogs taking part in the experiment displayed the same behavior.
The next step of Takaoka’s experiment will be to test this theory on wolves too, as they have common ancestors with dogs and it would be interesting to find that there is a common pattern of behavior too.
Several other experiments have shown that dogs can indeed spot a bad person as they refused treats from someone rude to their owner.
So, in case you have doubts about someone close to you, maybe it would be a great idea to spend some time with them and your dog, to observe its reactions towards that person.
Would be nice if their experiments would include incidences of first meetings with no treats or other offerings, just a chance encounter. Our dog can immediately to take someone or growl. What does this insinuate.
*Imply. It’s an implication, because insinuations are verbal, and we have to assume that your dog can’t talk, your mentioning of them growling implies that they can’t.
This explains why trump doesnt have a dog…..
If he did, the dog would either run away or be “fired”.
Of course, make it political.
Why would he want you to move in?
Ahaha… Truth!
I have raised wolf hybrid for 35 years so the answers is yes they know when someone is lying!
It never showed the video
All dogs know the difference between good and bad people.
My dog shakes and barks really low but doesn’t really growl at all.
I do trust a dogs opinion about good and not so good people. But this test feels on first reading very poorly designed.
I agree, bad test. It probably just means the dogs know the food container is empty. Not that the person is lying.
My male German shepherd bit one bad person that walked near his puppies while the mom was feeding them. She walked into my yard and I saw the shepherd circle behind her and bit her on the butt cheek barely breaking the skin surface. He didn’t bark or anything, just laid his ears back. I hated it but he was protecting his family. I made sure that she got medical care, dogs were up to date on shots. Surprised she didn’t sue. I know that she is a liar and thief. Some how the dog knew.
Dogs are much better readers of body language/intent than humans are… and therefore better able to “see” the lie than humans.
This is a great article and so true! We have 3 boxers and I trust them completely when it comes to the reactions they have to strangers.
This is a bogus study, therefore the conclusions are silly. Another attempt to anthropomorphize animals.Dogs only know what they’re conditioned to know. They understand rewards and punishment, not good and bad people. They learn what their owners show and tell them. End stop.
Do you feel this way because dogs don’t like you?
I disagree. I do believe animals can recognize a “good person” from a “bad person”. I’ve worked with many species including tigers, apes, monkeys, avian, wolfdogs, cats AND, yes, dogs. All seem to be able to recognize someone that has bad intentions. I think it’s more the way someone portrays themselves (body language, facial expressions, movement, tone of voice, etc.) and the pheromones people excrete when approaching the animal. We always forget our scents. They can all sense danger with other animals, so why not danger from a human? This is a silly experiment, I admit. The experiment only shows intelligence and learned behavior, nothing else.
When I first introduce my puppy Chewbacca to my family it was weird at first but I kind of make sense at the end when he wouldn’t stop barking at two of my siblings which acted nice to me in front of my puppy but have been backstabbing me for a while.
The researcher is a woman, Akiko Takaoka, please correct.
It’s not a bogus study, this article is poorly written, starting from refering to the researcher bas him, it’s a woman. Akiko Takaoka.
Not true. My aussie would growl or backup if she did not trust someone. 2x and the person proved to be a threat.
Leave it to a Democrat to make a post about politics on an article about dogs behavior. You people are sick bastards.
Dogs are much smarter and better “humans” than him she’s themselves. A couple of these replies to this article make me realize how much I love animals! BTW…I have never met a dog or cat that didn’t love me.
Or in Trumps case would bite him and the dog would die instead! Remember that poem about a Rich man ..who was liked by all, astray bit him and died instead of him.. 😆
My little dog is very friendly in general,but she sometimes growls at people and I trust her to have a reason.
Absolutely true. My brother is an axe murderer and our poodle hates him.
LMAO !
Ha! Good one.
I believe your mistaken. My dog went after a mouse and when it went under the counter, my dog went around to the otherside, knowing it couldn’t go through , but also knowing the mouse was between the cabinet and the wall, and she kept going back and forth, she finnally got it when it came out.i think that’s thinking deducting and coming to a conclusion.
Sorry, but you are wrong. My dog knows who is o.k and who is not, even when I dont know the person.
My dog has never been wrong.
You definately do not understand them!
You need to really know your dog.
My Bush Clinton Bush Obama Trump gene has expired….. I can only ask SERIOUSLY?
Dogs pick up on cues from their owners, or from anger (adrenaline) they smell in someone’s system. Sometimes a good person can be thought of as a bad person by a dog simply because of a ton3 of voice from their person. They are not always right.
Bad and good are two really fluctating notions, usually originated from humain religious main mentallities, and on top of it biology doesn’t react in terms of bad or good, just watch it trying not to stuck your anthropomorphic thoughs on it, this is pur and dangerous shit.
A dog can feel stress: somebody in situation of lying is often stressed, and can appear as a treath to the dog whose abilities to smell stress are a thousand times higher than ours. End of it. This type of article is deep shit because of dangerouse shorcuts.
Who can define who is ok and who is not, whitout context, and with a fixed definition and standard of good and evil? Dumb mentallity.
You’ve got Trump Derangement Syndrome
What about a dog that is aggressive with everyone at first then love them after 30 minutes?
My dog loved everybody and one day a parent came to puck up there child from my house and she wouldnt let them out of the car. He didnt do anything as i watched him arrive, dhe never did it again. Didnt see him again. I often wonder why she did that
My last dog seemed to real dislike older women who were sort of needy and overly doting. These were not bad people, just sort of annoying…
This so true. I have had Dogs all my life. And if my dog didn’t trust neither did I.
Had one dog guess could save my life. Out walking and a man approached. The dog instantly stepped in front of me sit and sound a low pitched grubble. He would not let person near me. If they moved he would shift. We went about or way. Few days later a lady was raped while walking her small dog by the man.
That is just one of many things I have witnessed in my dogs behaviors. Trust your dog and your gut!
Our dog knows good versus bad…he also can be shown that he needs to back off when a person is not sure about a greeting from a stranger
That gets so irritating. You’d think people would drop it by now.