Dogs are considered to be among the very first pets. Scientists still cannot say exactly when people tamed these creatures, but the most common assumption is that this happened 10-14 thousand years ago, in the Stone Age. Since then, dogs have been considered our very best friends, who will never leave us in trouble. Think only of the dog Hachiko, who waited for her master at the train station for nine whole years until she died - what is not the best proof of their loyalty? There is a lot of other evidence in history of the loyalty of our four-legged friends, but American psychologist Joshua Van Bourg somehow wondered - what if the dogs are just pretending to be faithful companions in order to benefit?
According to the researcher, numerous stories about rescue dogs and films full of romance do not prove their disinterested desire to save people. After all, who knows what is going on in the heads of these creatures? Maybe they save people for selfish purposes, wanting to get tasty food in return or stroking the stomach? After asking these questions, Joshua Van Burg contacted Professor Clive Wynne, who studies human-dog interactions. Together, they devised a series of experiments that helped them understand how strongly dogs are interested in saving their owners.
In the photo - Clive Wynn with his puppy.
Dog loyalty
60 dogs took part in the scientific experiment, each of which was assigned to pass three tests. The developed tests were generally the same - the owner of each animal was hiding in an iron box, the exit from which was blocked by a metal partition. But the circumstances in each case were different, which is why the tests even received different names:
- in the “distress test,” the owners pretended to be in trouble and called their dogs for help;
- in the “reading test,” the owners sat inside a box and simply read the newspaper aloud;
- In a “food test,” the researchers put food in an empty box in front of the dogs.
In the first trial, 20 dogs out of 60 rescued their owners. The researchers counted "rescue" only if the animal independently pushed the partition. Not so many dogs coped with this, and the rest, although they showed interest in the cries of the owners, did not understand how to help them. It is important to note that people were forbidden to call pets by name - in some cases, this could be perceived by dogs as a command that must be performed contrary to their true desires.
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In a test where the owners read the newspaper aloud, 16 dogs out of 60 were pushed aside the partition. Researchers believe that the animals did not want to save the owners, but simply wanted to find them and be with them. In the third trial, 19 dogs made it to the food - it seems that food was as important to them as the life of the owners. Joshua Van Burg must have rejoiced at this moment, because this fact almost proved that dogs are just pretending to be our friends.
Rescue dogs
But, in the course of further work, the results of the study were turned upside down. As part of the "food test", many dogs learned to open an iron box, so the researchers wondered - what if with this knowledge they are more successful in saving their owners? Dog owners climbed into the box again and started calling their pets for help. This time, thanks to the ability to move the partition, 84% of the dogs saved the owners.
Dogs are happy to save us, but first they need to be taught this.
The result of the study was that dogs really want to save their owners, but for this they need to know how to do it. Desire alone is clearly not enough for them, because not knowing what to do, they can simply run around in a panic around the owner in trouble. However, in history there are cases when dogs barking saved people from the consequences of a fire and other emergencies.
If you look at the interaction of humans and dogs from a broader perspective, even the conducted research cannot fully answer the main question - why exactly do dogs want to save their owners? Is it affection, dependence, expectation of praise, or true love? There is still no scientific answer to this question.
Ramis Ganiev