Scientists Examine If Dogs Are Able To Recognize A Liar

Nov 29, 2018

If you pay attention to how your dog acts around other people, then you can sometimes get an indication as to whether that person could mean trouble.

Akiko Takaoka recently conducted a study to determine if a dog would trust a person who lied to the animal. Akiko worked with some of his colleagues at Kyoto University in Japan. There were three separate parts of the study to determine if dogs could really sense whether people could be trusted or not.

Some of the information received from the study reveals that dogs enjoy being in a world with certainty instead of being in a world where things are questioned. The experiment was rather simple and involved the owners of the dogs.

During the first part of the study, owners pointed to a container that had food inside. The dogs would run toward the container to get the food. Next, the owners would point to a container that was empty. When dogs encountered an empty container, their behavior changed.

Dogs often run toward objects that owners point to, which was the reason behind this part of the experiment. The researchers involved in the study gathered that dogs do trust the gestures offered by their owners. However, if the gestures aren't consistent, then dogs can sometimes become stressed and lose trust in the person who shows them what to do in the room or outside.

As the experiment progressed, the dogs didn't follow the gestures because they knew that there was no food in the container that the owners pointed at, which meant that dogs could understand instincts more than gestures at times. The dogs in the study didn't believe the people who pointed to an empty container. They knew that the person wasn't truthful.

The experiment is expected to continue with wolves. These animals are among the closest to dogs and often have some of the same instincts. One of the things taken from the first experiment is that dogs tend to be curious. They inspect things before they make a decision.

Dogs are often known to control the interactions between their owners and other people who are around them. One experiment involved owners asking other people for assistance. The other person tried to give the dog a treat while owners asked for help.

Those who behaved in a manner that was rude and unfriendly were rejected while the dogs accepted treats from people who were calm and exhibited a friendly attitude. The dogs enjoyed being around the people who offered help to their owners. They avoided people in an experiment who appeared to mistreat their owners as a way of offering protection.

Do you have a dog yourself? What do you think about this article - do you believe it to be true that dogs can recognize a liar? Let us know in the comments and be sure to pass this on to all those dog lovers out there!