Domestic dog puppies are prepared to communicate with humans from birth, according to a study carried out by members of the University of Arizona (USA). Apparently this ability is innate and heritable through the genetics of animals.
The research, which has been published in the journal Current Biology, has analyzed the behaviors of 375 8-week-old Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers or a mixture of both in sociocognitive tests, which consisted of following the gestures of the hand or the The investigator’s eyes were drawn to a treat hidden in two cups nearly five feet away.
Most puppies chose the correct cup 70% of the time, and many were able to follow the gaze or gesture even on the first trial
“We know that adult dogs are good at these tasks. When does that start? Does it take years of observing humans and living with humans, or is that ability something they are more biologically prepared for and that has evolved through domestication?” explains Emily Bray, one of the authors of the study. .
Puppies inherit the ability to understand each other in their genes
The results showed that the puppies were very adept at following the researcher’s cues to the cup containing the treat. So much so that most of the puppies chose the correct cup 70% of the time, many of them were able to follow a person’s gaze or gesture towards a hidden treat even on the first trial, without the need for prior training.
Bray has explained that more than 40% of the variation in a puppy’s ability to follow a gaze or a point indicated with the finger could be explained because they have inherited it in the genes, since there was no evidence that this performance required learning to do it.
Animals appear to respond to human gazes and successfully use human-given information in a social context from a very young age, even before abandoning their littermates. In addition, the study found that the puppies were not guided by smell to find food nor were they learning during exercise, but simply following cues from the start of the study.
“This led us to conclude that they began the task with the necessary communication skills to be successful. 43% of the variation we see in point tracking ability and gaze behavior is due to genetic factors. All of these findings suggest that dogs are biologically primed to communicate with us,” says Emily Bray.
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