Dogs have earned the title “Man’s Best Friend” but are they unwaveringly loyal or are they secretly judging you?
A team of scientists writing in Animal Cognition attempted to find out by investigating whether or not eavesdropping canines revealed a preference between two human volunteers – one who displayed generous behavior and another who acted selfishly. The results were unclear.
The experiment involved 40 pet dogs divided into three categories (young, adult, and senior) and two groups (eavesdropping and control). The eavesdropping group watched one of two “demonstrator” dogs – Jasper, an 11-year-old male labradoodle, or Emmi, a 4-year-old female labrador – interact with two volunteers, a generous volunteer who offered treats and a selfish volunteer who withheld them.
Meanwhile, a control group observed the same behavior with an “imaginary dog.” After watching the demonstration, the dogs had the chance to interact with the volunteers themselves as researchers monitored their ...
