The secret life of the dog
I’m sure most of us are ready to believe that the dog is man’s best friend. But did we know that they actually seem to understand us even better than our closest relatives (no, not those ones) the chimpanzee? Oh yes, they do. And we understand them right back.
Studies of the eye movements of dogs when they look at us show that they do so in exactly the same way as humans do with each other – they look slightly more at the left side of the face. They respond easily to our instructions, emotions and needs. When they recorded different barks and played them back to people, there was remarkable unanimity on what those barks meant; for example, give me the ball, who’s this stranger on the other side of the fence, untie me, etc. But how did dogs get to be so tuned in to human beings? Is it that they’re socialized wolves and foxes? In fact, would wolves behave the same if they’re kept as pets? [Read more →]