ACCORDING TO RESEARCH, THE DOMESTICATION OF DOGS ALTERED THEIR APPARENCE AND MINDS

Canines have a cognitive ability that is uncommon in the animal kingdom: they can understand human gestures.

According to an American study that compared dogs to wolf cubs, the domestication of the dog changed not only its appearance, but also its mind, as reported in the scientific journal “Current Biology.”

According to the study, which was conducted by Duke University in the United States (US), the ability of dogs to understand human gestures may appear inconspicuous, but it is a complex cognitive ability that is uncommon in the animal kingdom.

Chimpanzees, man’s closest relatives, and wolves, he adds, do not have that ability.

Dogs, who have lived alongside humans for hundreds of years, have “mind theory” abilities, or mental abilities that allow them to infer what humans are thinking and feeling in certain situations.

The study compared 44 dogs and 37 wolf cubs aged 5 to 18 weeks and supported the idea that domestication altered the dog’s appearance and mind.

Wolf cubs were genetically tested for the first time at the Wildlife Science Center in Minnesota to ensure they were not wolf-dog hybrids.

The wolf cubs were raised with a lot of human interaction, even hand-feeding, sleeping in their caregivers’ beds every night, and receiving human attention almost 24 hours a day, starting a few days after birth.

In the experiment, experts placed a candy in one of two bowls and then gave each dog or wolf cub a clue to help them find the food.

In some trials, the researchers pointed and looked in the direction where the food was hidden, whereas in others, they placed a small block of wood next to the correct location, a gesture the puppies had never seen before, to show you where the candy was hidden.

According to experts, the results were surprising because even without specific training, dog puppies as young as eight weeks old understood where to go and were twice as likely to succeed as wolf puppies of the same age who had spent much more time with people.

It’s not about which species is “smarter,” according to expert Hannah Salomons, a PhD student at Duke University’s Brian Hare lab.

Other cognitive abilities, such as memory and impulse control, were tested equally well by dog and wolf cubs.

Only when it came to the reading abilities of people versus puppies did the differences become clear.

“There are numerous ways to be intelligent. Animals develop cognition in such a way that it will aid them in succeeding in whatever environment they live in “Salomons went on to say.

In other tests, puppies were found to be more likely than wolf cubs to approach an unknown person.

“With the puppies we work with, if you walk into their enclosure, they all want to come up to you and lick your face, whereas most of the wolf cubs run to the corner and hide,” Salomons explained.

Brian Hare, the study’s lead author, claims that the study provides some of the strongest evidence yet of what is known as the “domestication hypothesis.”