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NEW YORK – Have you ever noticed that your dog is approaching you when you cry? Or see how Fido could walk to a stranger in tears?
A new study suggests that dogs not only notice when someone is upset and in need of help, they can also move faster to help.
The research, published in Tuesday's Learning & Behavior journal, showed how dogs moved faster, on average, to open a door to reach their owners when the person was crying than when she was singing. melody "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
The study was relatively small, involving only 34 dogs and their owners, and of course there is no way to determine exactly what dogs thought or what their motives were.
Still, the findings could help better evaluate this influence the canines, especially service dogs, to help their fellow humans when needed.
"It's really cool for us to know that dogs are so sensitive to human emotional states," says Emily Sanford, a student in Psychology and Brain. Science at Johns Hopkins University who was co-author of the study
"It is interesting to think that all these anecdotes of dogs saving humans, they could be based in truth, and this study is a step towards the understanding of how these types of "
When dogs offer a helping paw
For the study, the owners and their dogs – of different breeds, Sizes and ages – were split into two groups 19659002] The dog was placed in a rectangular room next to a small square room where the owner was sitting behind a door, seemingly trapped.The dog could see and hear his owner through a transparent plexiglass in the door
In a group, the owner was ordered to say "help" in an anguished tone at 15-second intervals and to cry. other group, the p The owner was invited to hum and say "help" in a normal tone every 15 seconds.
A small study concludes that dogs will move faster to be with their owners if the person cries for singing.
The door was attached to a door frame by three magnets, which allowed a dog to open the door with his nose or paw.
The researchers found that in both groups, a similar number of dogs opened the door. nine in the buzz group and seven in the crying group – there was a significant difference in speed.
Among the dogs that opened the door, those whose owners seemed distressed opened the door in 23.43 seconds. The dogs whose owners buzzed took longer: 95.89 seconds on average
There was no significant difference in the way dogs responded based on age or race or if the animal was a therapy dog. Nearly half of the study dogs, 16, were nationally certified therapy dogs.
"Although we do not know for sure if other factors motivated the opening, we can say that crying dogs opened much faster than dogs in the buzz. , which suggests that they take action when their owner is in distress, "said Julia Meyers-Manor, an assistant professor of psychology at Ripon College in Wisconsin, who was the senior author of the book. ;study. 19659002] Manor, whose research focuses on cognitive and emotional abilities in rats and dogs, says the discovery seems to indicate the dog's attempt to help.
The researchers also measured the variability of the heart rate and the behavioral signs of each dog. response during the study. The researchers looked at the video of the dogs that completed the experiments and looked for behavioral signs of stress, such as barking or gasping.
Among the dogs whose owners seemed anxious, those who opened the door showed less stress than the dogs the researchers found. Among the dogs whose owners were buzzing, the dogs' stress responses did not seem to be related to the opening of the door.
"The idea is that if you can perceive someone else in distress, it will not stress you" This explanation really fits our evidence that the least stressed dogs were Aids, really stressed dogs were not aids, and there was no similar pattern of stress and openness in control conditions, "she said. "We think that there was an empathic response."
The study methodology was modeled following an experiment where laboratory rats tended to open more often and more quickly a restraint device containing their companion rat. stuffed rat or was empty. The rats released their companions even when social contact was prevented.
When releasing their mate was opposed to chocolate access in a second restrainer, rats would open both containers and would typically share chocolate, according to this study, published in the journal Science in 2011.
It was unclear whether the trapped rats were in distress, however, while in the new study, dog owners could mimic signs of distress by crying.
What could Rover's research tell us?
The new study had some limitations, including its small size and some owners were better at crying than others wrong
Also, "our heart rate data was not the best because of the length of the aperture was only about 20 seconds, and the data becomes a little unreliable at such short intervals.We need to be a little cautious with these conclusions accordingly, "said Manor.
"The other limit is that half of the dogs in the open buzz condition [the door] as well." Overall, "I think this study is important because it helps to show us how dogs can react in an emergency situation, "she said
." Manor said. "He also continues to build support for the attention and concern that dogs show for human emotional states, which gives us a better understanding of both dogs and empathy."
L & # 39 study serves as an "interesting first step" in which some dogs rush to help in one situation while others do not, says Angie Johnston, "What is most important in this article is "Consider how the anxiety state of dogs influenced their help or not," said Johnston, who conducts research with domestic and wild adults, children, and canines. "The thing that's particularly interesting is the one that accords with previous research on humans, showing that humans are also more likely to help if they're not as stressed by the situation, " she says. "So, it seems that way, dogs can be like humans."
Yet, more research is needed to determine whether the results of the study are a true representation of empathy in dogs. will be necessary. For example, this study used a method where dogs were either in the state where the guardian was chanting "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". or they were in the condition where the owner made distress noises, but it would be really interesting to watch Dogs, the way a dog at a time, how the context affects how much they help, "said Johnston, as if the same dogs crossed the two groups of buzzing or crying and their responses differ in each scenario. 19659002] "It would be really useful to know in the long term what we could do as humans to get useful and effective responses from dogs," she said.
More research is needed Stop their owner from crying rather than helping their owner, Johnston pointed out.
"I would like to see a follow-up research that ensures that dogs react to the negative emotional state of the human, indicated by the distressed sound" Dogs are profiling humans a bit As an FBI Investigator "
Aaron McDonald, a canine behavioral based in Birmingham, Alabama, has seen cases of what appears to be dogs that experience and show empathy for humans. [19659002] "Currently, I have a client who yesterday reported such behavior in his dog, Isis, his toddler has a tendency to climb and tumble in. In response, the dog now stands behind her to stall her The owner did not give such instructions.What emotion causes this innovation, if not feelings of empathy? Empathy lies at the heart of social attachment ", said McDonald, who has not been involved in the new study.
After all, dogs tend to pay close attention to their owners. their behavior, the order in which they move from one room to the other, how long it takes them to dry their hair in the morning and the sound and pace of their steps, " McDonald said: "They also record all our facial assignments, our speech patterns, and memorize all our cognitive blind spots – when and where we're not paying attention," he said. "Dogs are profiling humans as an FBI investigator could document the lifestyle of a suspect.The dogs record and memorize all the nuances of their caregivers' lifestyle."
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