dogs are smarter than they look

[Bilge_Rat]

proof of what every dog owner instinctively knows, the buggers have us twisted around their little paws...

That little pooch you shower with love and affection knows how to get what it wants.

A new study published in the journal Animal Cognition has found that our canine companions are able to deceive us in order to get something they desire. And they can figure out how to do it quite quickly.

In order to study the behaviour, Heberlein and her research team from the University of Zurich conducted an experiment. Using 27 dogs, the team paired each one with two human partners: a co-operative one who allowed the dogs to eat treats, and a competitive one who withheld the treats.

After the dogs learned which was which, the dogs then had the chance to lead them to one of three boxes: in one there was a sausage; in another was a less appetizing dog treat; and the last one was empty.

On the first day, the dogs led the co-operative partners to the sausage box more often than expected by chance and more often than the competitive partner. On the second day that increased in both cases.

By leading the competitive partner to the incorrect box, this meant that the dog had a chance to keep the delicious sausage for itself later on, when the experiment was repeated with a co-operative partner. Hence, the apparently deceptive behaviour.

This ability, the researchers say, was learned quite quickly compared to other studies involving primates, which can take upward of a hundred trials before the animals made this association and acted accordingly.

Humans tend to think of themselves as unique, and cognitive abilities is one of those things that some believe sets us apart — and above — other animals. But more and more, this belief is being challenged as other species are found to be making cognitive choices.

Still, the speed at which the dogs learned was notable.

"I do think it's impressive that they got the co-operative/competition task quite quickly," Buchsbaum said. "It's promising that they're solving the problem and not just gradually learning more simple association."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/do...tion-1.4019103