Fool a dog once, shame on you. Fool them twice? A study says you may not get away with that. Scientists from Kyoto University found that dogs can determine if you're trustworthy based on your actions, and even act according to that. More so, they may only follow commands from people that they believe in.
The study, published in the journal Animal Cognition in 2015, was led by researcher Akiko Takaoka. The experiment had the aim to find if dogs can spot a liar and whether they will follow instructions given by an unreliable person. Working with a group of 34 dogs, the scientists based their experiment on a simple command. The person in question would point to something, and the dog would go in that direction, whether it's retrieving a ball or checking out a certain spot.
In the first round, researchers pointed to a container that had a hidden treat in it, which they got to eat. Then, the same person pointed once again, but this time, they led the dogs to an empty container. For the final round, the tester pointed to a container holding a hidden treat once again. But this time, despite there being a reward awaiting them, the dogs didn't bother to go take a look.
“These results suggest that not only are dogs highly skilled at understanding human pointing gestures, but they also make inferences about the reliability of a human who presents cues and consequently modifies their behavior flexibly depending on the inference,” reads the study.
Takaoka spoke to the BBC about the experiment, and shared her surprise at how quickly dogs devalued the reliability of a human. The test, Takaoka points out, shows that dogs can use their experience to assess whether the person can be considered reliable. “Dogs have more sophisticated social intelligence than we thought,” she said. “This social intelligence evolved selectively in their long life history with humans.”
A similar study was carried out by researchers of University of Vienna in 2021. The team went even further, testing the behavior of 260 dogs. For this study, scientists used two bowls—one empty, one with a treat. First, a person pointed to bowl A, which held a treat. Then, dogs got to see when a second person came in and switched the treat to bowl B. Finally, the person pointed to bowl A, now empty.
Scientists reported that half of the dogs ignored the human's indication when they saw them pointing to the wrong bowl, which suggests the pups were able to tell they were being lied to. Younger dogs, however, were more likely to follow the command even if it was wrong.
“Our study provides the first experimental evidence that dogs distinguish between a true and a false belief condition in a change-of-location task,” the researchers wrote.
Even though dogs are known for being super loyal and lovable, it doesn't mean that they aren't paying attention. So, this is a reminder to make sure you aren’t following every TikTok trend that has you trying to trick your dog. They can tell when you're lying to them.
Sources: Do dogs follow behavioral cues from an unreliable human?; Can Dogs Tell If Someone is Untrustworthy?; Study: Dogs Can Identify Liars, and They Don't Trust Them; Can dogs tell when you're lying to them?; Cómo sabe tu perro si se puede fiar de ti
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