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Doggos Can Tell If Your Friend Is A Bad Person, And The Internet Is Loving It

It's one thing to joke about not liking people your dog doesn't like; but it might actually be a good strategy!

Rachel
  • Published in Animals
Doggos Can Tell If Your Friend Is A Bad Person, And The Internet Is Loving It

Ever wondered why your dog just does not seem to like certain people? Well, studies show that dogs can sense when people are "bad." Dogs are known for their loyalty to their human family, and this study shows it taken to a whole other level! You may have thought you were imagining it when your friendly dog was acting differently around certain people.

But, as this study shows, dogs can tell when people are unkind, even when that person has been perfectly lovely to the dog! It really does show that dogs are man’s best friend; so trust the judgement of your dog, it may save you a rotten friendship!

Ever noticed your dog lowkey giving someone the stink eye?

Turns out that dogs can sense when people are unkind, even when that person hasn't been rude to them.

The research was conducted by Neuroscience and Biobehaviour Reviews.

It builds on research about (human) babies and how they respond to negative interactions by studying the behaviour of Capuchin Monkeys and dogs.

The experiment was simple. The dog owners were given a container which they struggled to open, and then had to ask a researcher for assistance. The researcher responded in one of three ways; helping the dog owner, standing there passively, or refusing to help at all. The researchers then gave the dogs a dog treat.

Overall, the dogs were more likely to accept the treat from researchers who helped, or were passive towards, their owners. The dogs were also more likely to ignore the treat from the rude researchers who did not help their owners.

This shows that even though the researcher was not unkind to the dog itself, the dog didn't want treats from someone who was rude to their owner.

Though people may assume that cats are better judges of character, this study proves otherwise.

It just goes to show that dogs pay more attention than we think! It also shows that animals don't exclusively act in self interest, and they really do have our best intentions at heart.

Though I'm not really surprised to learn my dog may be a better judge of character than I am, it is still interesting to learn.

It's a pretty nifty vetting process, if you ask me!

Rachel