Viennese Researchers: Dogs Look Where Humans Point

The dogs looked more often at a food bowl when a researcher pointed to it than when she stared into the air. They looked even more often at the bowl when she pointed and looked at it. They did not look more often at the food when the researcher only looked at it. This was published in the journal "Proceedings B" of the Royal Society.

Twenty Dogs Came to the "Clever Dog Lab" in Vienna

"Our results show that the simultaneous use of pointing and looking is a particularly effective method to direct dogs' attention to a reference point," concluded the scientists led by Christoph Völter from the Messerli Research Institute for Human-Animal Interaction at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. The four-legged friends then most frequently turned their gaze from the researcher's face to her hand and finally to the food bowl. They usually then ran there to empty it.

(APA/Red)

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