Dogs Could Be Aware of Themselves, New Study Reveals

Dogs Could Be Aware of Themselves, New Study Reveals
SHARE

Perhaps everybody figured out by now that dogs are pretty intelligent animals. The intelligence of an average dog is believed to be just as sophisticated as the one of a 2.5-year old baby.

Dogs are known to have other incredible traits as well. They’re very good swimmers, some of them can even outrun a cheetah, and their smell is over 40 times better than ours. But even today, scientists still have a lot to learn about our furry friends. According to a new study that ScienceAlert.com writes about, dogs can also have a sense of self-awareness.

The researchers explained in their study:

We found that when dogs could not pass an object to their owner, because the object was attached to the mat the dogs were standing on, they were more likely to leave the mat and leave it sooner, than in the control condition. We argue that dogs’ response in the main test can be explained based on their body awareness and the understanding of the consequences of their own actions.

Another important statement wrote:

Our results support self-representation as an array of more or less connected cognitive skills, and the presence or lack of a particular building block may vary according to the species.

The American Kennel Club also reveals a series of interesting facts about dogs. According to the website, these animals’ nose print is unique in a similar way that a human’s fingerprint is. Almost half of the dogs living in the US prefer to sleep in their owner’s bed. Dogs can even dream, just like us, humans. Last but not least, the publication tells us that the dogs’ noses are able to sense heat and thermal radiation. 

The new study about the dogs’ possible self-awareness was published in Scientific Reports.


SHARE

Even since he was a child, Cristian was staring curiously at the stars, wondering about the Universe and our place in it. Today he's seeing his dream come true by writing about the latest news in astronomy. Cristian is also glad to be covering health and other science topics, having significant experience in writing about such fields.

Post Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.