Dogs are true friends and they can understand human gesture. But one could doubt if trained dogs or stray dogs could well understand human gestures. Well, a new study has revealed that stray dogs respond more than any other dogs to human gestures.
The study has been published in Frontiers in Psychology. In the study it has been said that stray dogs are also capable of following pointing sues. The study was conducted by the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, Kolkatta. The researchers analysed about 160 adult stray dogs across India and came to the conclusion that they respond better than any other digs.
The scientists had placed two covered bowls on the ground. One contained chicken and the other did not have any food but had only the scent of the food. Then there was a pointer that directed to the bowls. In the first experiment, the pointing finger was bending down so close to the bowl and it was seen that only 50 per cent of stray dogs understood the direction.
The 50 per cent of dogs that responded were further analysed. They went on with distal pointing experiment, where a person stands directly pointing towards a point. It was seen that 80 per cent of the stray dogs followed the cue.
From the experiment, the researchers concluded that the stray dogs knew where to look for cue when a person was pointing at something and this showed the ability to pick up cues that could be their natural stint. They also claimed that all these showed how humans could play a role in shaping the behaviour of dogs in the streets.
