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Some studies show that dogs know when humans lie to them. Because they are intuitive, they pick up cues and interpret situations well enough to recognize deception from their masters.
Due to domestication, dogs have learned to communicate with humans in ways unseen in other animal groups. They pick up on many human gestures; whether it’s understanding when we point our fingers or make eye contact, their abilities are truly incredible.
If you’re unsure whether this applies to your dog, test it by getting their favorite treat and placing it within reach. Observe what your dog does when you look away. When the treat remains untouched after some time, they understand they don’t have permission to eat it. If your dog eats the treat, train them to wait for your command.
In this regard, dogs are remarkable; you can teach them tricks and ways to respond to various commands. For example, saying “roll” or “sit” prompts obedience because they understand humans and have conditioned themselves to respond accordingly.
Understanding how dogs interpret human behavior is essential. They observe facial expressions and disclose what they feel, even if we are unaware of our emotions.
A study by Lucrezia Lonardo and her colleagues at the University of Vienna shows that dogs recognize when humans lie or manipulate. Christa Leste-Lasserre summarized this study, explaining that unlike young children, dogs do not respond when they realize you’re lying. The study, published in New Scientist, investigated whether dogs could distinguish true from false intentions. Researchers studied 260 dogs, instructing them to retrieve food from opaque baskets after humans misinformed them of the food’s true location.
First, trainers taught the dogs to find food in hidden bowls and trust unfamiliar people. During the training, a stranger pointed to the bowl with food, looked at the dogs, and said, “This is good.” The dogs eventually trusted him.
In another experiment, dogs observed someone moving food from one bowl to another in two scenarios. In the first, the person who moved the food watched everything, knowing where the food was. In the second, the person was absent and unaware of the switch.
The key finding was that the dogs knew whether the person had seen the food being moved. The bowls in the experiment were empty, and the dogs recognized whether the person witnessed the switch or not.
When the results came in, they surprised everyone. Most dogs understood they had been manipulated.
Sixty-six percent trusted the original person who told them where the food was, even when they knew the food had been switched.
This study proved that dogs can recognize when humans lie and when they tell the truth. Most dogs, if not all, know when humans are dishonest or making honest mistakes. While we do not fully understand how they do this, it’s clear that dogs are intelligent animals.
For many years, people believed that wolves do not follow human cues or interpret them as instructions. Although dogs and wolves belong to the same family, dogs can pick up on human body language and judge whether they can trust us. It is no wonder that family dogs are difficult to fool. They won’t believe you if you point at a treat incorrectly; instead, they rely on their memory to find it.
Recall all the times you tried to fool your dog by pretending to throw a ball but hiding it behind your back. Notice who your dog’s favorite person in the house is and how trustworthy they are as people.
Dogs are incredibly loyal and intelligent creatures. Their loyalty is unconditional towards their masters. As more people discover dogs’ cognitive abilities, they can assist humans in practical tasks. This helps foster stronger human-dog relationships as they work together to solve problems.