Dogs follow our eyes gaze to get to the target
July 3rd, 2006
Clever canines can do something which not even our closest relative, the chimp, can manage. They can follow the human gaze or a pointing hand, figure out what it is we are looking at and seek out the target.
Dogs have spent thousands of years living with humans so a Hungarian research team set out to investigate whether this cunning ability came from wolves, the genetic ancestors of today’s dogs, or developed during domestication.
Dr Adam Miklosi, at Eotvos University in Budapest, compared the abilities of dogs with hand-reared wolves to find hidden food from human cues, such as pointing.
These experiments are the first ever performed with such highly “humanised” wolves, brought up with round-the-clock care from volunteers in Dr Miklosi’s department.
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