This communication The relationship between humans and dogs is a fascinating topic that has long been the subject of research. This dog behavior specialists worked hard for decoding the body language of our cute furry friendswith the aim of understanding them better and offering them a quality life. But what about when it comes to understanding people? Do dogs really make an effort to understand us?
Anyone who owns a dog has noticed this sometimes. When we talk to them, they look down at us as if they understand every word. What do we say? But why do they do this? Better to listen to us?
A fascinating study led by researchers at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary, published in the scientific journal Animal Cognition, shed light on this peculiar behavior of dogs. They’ve discovered that bowing is something for us. Pets when they remember something important.
The power of memory in dogs
The group of researchers conducted a study in July 2021 to investigate. dogs’ ability to learn and memorize words. During the experiments, dogs were asked to bring a particular toy when called by name.
Of the 40 participating dogs, only 33 managed to memorize all the names of the toys (seven of them breeds considered more intelligentLike the Border Collie, they were able to learn more than ten names), they noticed an interesting pattern: All bowed their heads during the exercises.
The new study found that 43 percent of breed dogs They are considered smarter by bowing their heads when asked to bring a certain toy. “Dogs tilt their heads in various situations, but It seems they do this when they hear something that really interests them.“, explains Andrea Sommese, one of the ethologists involved in the study.
“This behavior appears to be closely related to sound perception. and it might be their way of listening more closely, or maybe when they get a little confused, just like we humans do,” adds Sommese.
In addition, the researchers wondered whether dogs had a preference for tilting their heads to one side or the other, and after two years of testing, they concluded that this preference was purely individual in each animal. This suggests that people have a similar preference to be right-handed or left-handed.
“Many behaviors in dogs prefer one side, such as which paw they use to reach an object, which way they prefer to wag their tail, and even which nostril they use more when sniffing,” the researchers explain.
In summary, this study suggests: When a dog bows its head, it shows special interest and it’s probably related to its ability to hear.. For this reason The next time you see your dog nodding when you talk to him, you know he’s making a real effort to understand you.. This is so cute!