A study has shown that dogs behave in a hostile manner when interacting with someone who hurts a family member (File)

The bone dogs are animals that turned out to be very intelligent and perceptive with what is happening around him, there is even a popular belief that they are able to tell when a person is good or badAlthough this is a debatable opinion, several studies have shown that they know when someone is untrustworthy.

Studies on dogs abound in the scientific world, the close relationship between these animals and humans has led scholars to investigate the effects of domestication and behavioral change in this species.

researchers of the Kyoto University conducted a study in which they showed that dogs can understand when someone is mean to their human family and therefore change your attitude towards this person.

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Dogs aren't passive observers of what's going on around them, they gather information and are able to remember those who are mean to them (Getty Images)
Dogs aren’t passive observers of what’s going on around them, they gather information and are able to remember those who are mean to them (Getty Images)

The study conducted by James Anderson“Social Assessments of Humans by Monkeys and Dogs” was published in November 2017 by the journal Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews from the Dutch publisher Elsevier. In this, scholars analyzed how “man’s best friend” reacts when a person is mean to his loved ones.

To prove the hypothesis, the researchers rounded up dogs accompanied by their guardians and unknown volunteers. One group was asked to behave in a friendly way and another in an aggressive way towards dog owners.

After performing this action, the aliens offered food to the animals to see their reaction. The canines accepted food from the friendly volunteerswhile those who behaved unpleasantly received an attitude of hostility.

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Although time passes, these animals can remember the people who tried to trick them (Getty Images)
Although time passes, these animals can remember the people who tried to trick them (Getty Images)

The research findings “reflect intense interest in the possible effects of approximately 15,000 years of domestication during which dogs were bred for traits such as sensitivity to communication behaviors,” the researchers explained.

The bone dogs have demonstrated that they can interpret communication and interactions between humans and thus change their behavior. The scholars explained that dogs, like monkeys and human babies, are not passive observers of what is happening around them.

Primates and dogs “pay attention to the outcome of the interaction, evaluate the behavior of the actors and use this information to make a decision on how they will behave”, detailed the researchers from the Japanese university.

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Dogs react friendly when someone brings them food and treat their owners well (Getty Images)
Dogs react friendly when someone brings them food and treat their owners well (Getty Images)

The researcher of Rissho University in Tokyo, Akiko Takaokaconducted another study in which he showed that dogs know when a person is cheating on them and are able to remember it.

The article “Do Dogs Follow Behavioral Cues of an Untrustworthy Human?” was published by the journal animal cognition in March 2015, and it’s one of the first investigations in which dogs’ flexible behavior was linked to the attitudes humans have towards them.

The volunteers had to point out to the dogs two containers, one of which contained food and the other was empty, after having corroborated the information, the animals were able to discern who had deceived them.

Upon repeating the activity, the dogs completely ignored people pointing at the empty container and were affectionate with whoever was telling them the truth.

The results of both studies showed that these animals are able to know who the mean people are with them and their familyso that a deception or a hostile attitude is difficult for them to forget.

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