"Our results show that dogs can understand the pointing gesture if a body part protrudes from the body silhouette," Lakatos said. For the second study, published in the prior issue of the same journal, Marta Gacsi, also of Eotvos University, and her team analyzed 180 dogs of various ages to see how development and individual differences affect their understanding of human pointing. Gacsi and her colleagues determined "the dogs showed no difference in the performance according to age, indicating that in dogs the comprehension of the human pointing may require only very limited and rapid early learning to fully develop." Lakatos cautions, however in thinking that dogs are just like furry two-year-old children. "Any behavioral similarity or similar performance between dogs and children should be investigated separately in each case," she advised. "Just to give an example for a reverse case: nobody has tried to herd a flock of sheep with two-year-old (human children)." Related Links: University of Wisconsin Page on Dog Training |
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