We at Charlies Treats believe that our furry friends are not just house hold members but are indeed part of our house hold family. By providing them with delicious and nutritious dog foods, we show them our love. Here's an interesting read on a study that has been done that concludes that indeed our pups have feelings and understand our actions.
Hope you enjoy reading this article as much as we did!
Until next time!
"Dogs can tell the difference between deliberate actions—and mistakes, say scientists.
It adds growing evidence to the idea that man’s best friend knows just how we are feeling.
First author Dr Britta Schunemann said, “The dogs in our study clearly behaved differently depending on whether the actions of a human experimenter were intentional or unintentional.”
Dogs have bonded with people over thousands of years. Obeying every “sit,” “lay down,” and “roll over” command is just one such skill.
But whether they understand intentions, or merely respond to outcomes, remains unclear.
This is a basic component of Theory of Mind—long regarded as uniquely human.
It’s the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others and dogs have it too.
They can tell the difference between something done on purpose, or by accident.
Dr Schunemann, of Gottingen University, and colleagues tested how they reacted when food rewards were withheld.
The researchers found the animals behaved differently depending on whether the actions of the experimenter were intentional or unintentional.
It shows dogs can distinguish between actions that were done on purpose, or accidentally.
To reach their conclusions, the German team conducted an experiment using the ‘unable vs. unwilling’ paradigm.
It works by examining whether test subjects react differently towards a human experimenter.
They either intentionally (the unwilling condition) or unintentionally (the unable condition) withhold treats.
The experiment was conducted with 51 dogs, each of which was tested under three conditions."
….. More info can be found at the source below
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/max-planck-dogs-intentional-human-behavior/