Do Dogs Distinguish Between Nice and Grumpy People?

In an experiment, 40 four-legged friends of various ages showed no preference for two-legged individuals who had previously kindly given them a sausage. They did not prefer these over people who kept it to themselves with a gruff demeanor. The study was published in the journal "Animal Cognition."

A team led by Sarah Marshall-Pescini had the test dogs at the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Comparative Behavioral Research at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna interact with two types of people: With "nice" individuals who gave them or a fellow dog a piece of sausage in front of their eyes and kindly said, "You can have it." And with "mean" people who shouted at them, "You won't get it!", crossed their arms, turned away with the sausage, and walked away.

Subsequently, the dogs did not approach the "nice" and "mean" people differently often, according to the researchers. They also showed equally friendly behavior towards them. "The study therefore does not support the assumption that domestic dogs are capable of forming a judgment about people," said the researchers: "However, there may be limitations in the experimental design that prevent them from showing this ability."

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