The researchers taught 21 domestic dogs of different breeds how to press a button to receive a food reward. Then they let the four-legged friends watch how some people pressed the button for them, and others didn’t. Then the dogs were allowed to return the favor and again press the food button for the people.
But they did so as rarely with generous people as they did with the least generous, the research team reported in PLOS ONE. Four-legged friends have not played more than once with more generous people.
There are studies that show that dogs give back their services to fellow canines and that they can distinguish between cooperative and uncooperative biped animals. However, the researchers said the current study provides no evidence that dogs would combine the two services to exchange help from humans.
Four-legged friends may also find it funny to always feed the people they feed them, the scientists say, “but it’s also possible that they didn’t realize the relationship between people’s beneficial behavior and reward.”
Publication date: 07/14/2021 at 8:41 pm
Last update: 07/14/2021, 9:39 PM
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