Dogs Ignore People Who Don’t Like Their Owners

It is common to hear that dogs ignore people who don’t like their owners . This is because the social structures of dogs are very complex and they even interpret our moods in a way that, even for people, is very difficult to achieve.

According to a study by the University of Kyoto, the s dogs don’t like people that their owners feel some kind of dislike . During a meeting, the body language the owner’s mood will change, as will their mood, and that’s something the dogs will be able to interpret and identify.

Likewise, the same study determined that the dogs also don’t like people who have bad attitudes or are rude to their pets. , so in both cases they will refuse to give any attention, even if these people pay attention, food and caresses they will keep away.

According to these reactions it is possible to say, dogs are one of the few animals that socially accompany the sympathy or antipathy people feel towards a third person. . In fact, this type of behavior is only found in human and primate groups, which is why it ends up being an important discovery in the field of intelligence and animal psychology.

What did the study consist of?

The study was designed by Kazuo Fujita and sought to determine how close the relationship between dogs and humans could be. . Although it is known that dogs are faithful home protectors and can reach the unimaginable levels of their owners, it was not clear to what level this could reach. fidelity.

The researchers took a sample of 54 dogs with different characteristics. (large, small, crossbred, race) and organized them into three groups of 18 dogs each to participate in a role play.

For each group, one or two strangers participated and interacted with the owner to then assess the dog’s response to a reward provided by the unknown person. The reward was food for the dog.

In the first group, the dog was placed in a closed room with the owner and an unknown person, and the owner had to ask the stranger for help and he refused.

In the second group, the owner was locked in a room with his dog and an unknown person, but when the owner asked for some kind of favor the stranger did.

In the third group, the dog, the owner and two other unknown people were locked in a room. In this case, the owner was ignored.

The owner was instructed to give evident samples of frustration or anxiety while problems were happening and to react in a neutral way to the unknown that was helping him.

At the end of the activity, people who refused to help were asked to offer some gratification that the dog would like,   in most cases they refused food and ignored them when they tried to get their attention.

Instead,  dogs were more likely to receive the reward from the unknown person who was empathetic to the owner.

Taking into account the above, and that one of the selection criteria of the dogs was that they had no training not to receive food from strangers (which would definitely change the search result), it was determined that dogs were able to make social and emotional assessments, taking into account the reactions of members of their family group to others. and not exclusively through direct relationships.

Although there are people who question the scientific importance of this kind of research, it is always good to know that your dog loves you and sympathizes with your emotions.