Many dog owners will regale you at great, and often very boring lengths about how smart their pet is.
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| Dog Recognition Of Owners Not What You Think |
These tales often involve the fact that dogs are bonded to them and recognise the owners and their families ..... well if they do, its not likely to be via facial recognition.The researchers at Canterbury Christ Church and Exeter Universities have conducted tests that show that a dogs ability to recognise human faces is no better than a sheep. To make matters worse pigeons were shown to have better memories of faces (and I can personally attest that seagulls can recognise someone they don't like at 400 yards .... my nemesis for two years running was a local gull during nesting season!!).
The researchers claim that previous studies of dogs abilities were in fact skewed by the same bias that dog lovers show, and that the desire to prove that 'mans best friend' has special intelligence was making testers misinterpret the results, or load the tests in dogs favour.
Dogs actually identify you principally by your smell ... usually that of your backside or your crotch .... not that flattering really.
I've often wondered why dogs will quickly adopt or accept new owners . This fact has always flown in direct contradiction to claims that they are loyal.
ReplyDeleteI have never had a dog but I've noted that they will bond with strangers quite quickly. Thanks for the comment.
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