Has your dog ever reacted strangely to certain people? It is not unusual for dog owners to see that their dogs do not like particular people.
When your well-behaved dog suddenly starts barking angrily at a stranger, it is usually for a very good reason.
Well, there is actually a scientific reason your dog may behave strangely towards certain people! Dogs are pretty intuitive creatures who have good judgment.
The fact is that they can tell if someone is a good or bad person, but what is more fascinating, is how researchers tested dogs’ judgment.
There is scientific evidence proving why dogs react negatively towards certain people. Researchers tested the hypothesis that dogs can tell if people are mean to one another.
Neuroscience and Behavioural Reviews claims that dogs can recognize when someone is a good person. They are especially adept at realizing when people are horrible to one another.
Researchers had dog owners act out two separate scenarios while their dogs watched.
Dog owners in the first scenario struggled to open a container, then asked two researchers to help. While one researcher helped, the other stood by passively.
The second scenario had the dog owner again struggling with a container and asking for help. While one researcher watched passively, the other refused to help.
The dogs were then offered a treat. In the first scenario, the dog was likely to take a treat from the passive researcher, however, in the second scenario, the dog was much more likely to ignore the treat from the person who was mean to their owner.
The researchers concluded that dogs have the ability to tell when someone is being mean to another person and they react accordingly.
If your dog ever refuses to take a treat from someone for no reason, they may actually think that they are a bad person.
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