Thursday, February 14, 2013

Dogs Recognize other Dog Species?

In this article, a test is conducted to find whether or not dogs could discriminate between their species or another, like humans. They found that the dogs tested on could, in fact, identify and group different dogs into their own category and any other species into another. What is surprising is that the dogs could recognize all the species of dog that were shown. There are over 400 pure-bred registered species of dog. The dogs were shown 144 pairs of pictures, including images of non-dog species. The dogs recognized and grouped every pure-bred and cross-bred dog they were shown.

NOS Themes

  • This test is based on observation
  • The power of curiosity
  • Science is tentative

Article Link:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130214103703

Picture Link:

http://pethooligans.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/clever_dog.jpg
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 3, 2013 at 8:18 PM

    I was able to find these two articles about this same subject: http://www.livescience.com/27156-dogs-recognize-their-own-species.html and http://dogbehaviorscience.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/a-dog-recognizes-its-own-species/
    One of the sites mentioned that now that this has been proven some dog training tactics must be changed. Many trainers say that the dog has to recognize their owner as an "alpha" and instruct dog owners to do various things with their dog to make sure they "know who is boss". However, a dog knows that their human own is human. Why even bother now? The other article mentioned that while many animal species can successfully pick out their own species, this is a big accomplishment for dogs. There are many different types of dogs which complicates the process.

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  2. AnonymousMarch 5, 2013 at 8:13 PM

    This was a really cool article. I did a little bit more of some background research. Did you know studies have also shown that they’re better than wolves and some primates at understanding the hints we give them about an object’s whereabouts – particularly if it’s a treat – by reading our eyes and head movements.

    Here is the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/dogs-recognize-other-species_n_2716207.html

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