If their cuteness is undeniable, a recent study confirms that puppies would be ready to communicate with us almost from birth as confirmed by Emily Bray, postdoctoral research associate at theArizona Canine Cognition Center from the School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona.
Puppies “very gifted” to follow visual indications from the 1st try
This social exchange would be carried out above all by the gaze, and this, without necessarily having benefited from an in-depth experience with people, details Emily Bray. The researcher has been studying the development of guide dogs for ten years in collaboration with Canine Companions, a non-profit organization providing dogs for free to adults, children and veterans with physical or cognitive disabilities. As assistance dogs are often from well-known and ancient breeds, they are excellent examples for research. It also allowed researchers to determine the influence of genetics in relation to the environment and training on dog behavior.
The results of the study were published this Thursday, June 3 in the journal Current Biology. She focused on 375 Labradors about 8 weeks old and still living with their mother and siblings. Among the tests carried out, these included making eye contact with the researcher, following a gesture of the researcher’s hand and eyes hiding a treat under one of the cups.
“We know that adult dogs are good at these tasks,” explains Emily Bray. But when does it start? Does it take them several years to observe and interact with humans, or is this ability innate? This is the question that scientists are interested in. The puppies were “very good” at following visual cues and on the first try most (70%) were looking directly at the one cup where the treat was hidden, yet they had never learned how to do it. For the researcher, this ability is due in large part to their genes. “This is the first direct evidence that there is a genetic basis.”
Baby language also works with puppies
To encourage the puppies to follow their recommendations, the researchers spoke to them with a high-pitched voice, stronger intonation, and a slower tempo, as human moms naturally do with their babies. Studies have shown that this way of speaking to babies stimulates the development of speech and language in human babies who like to be addressed in this way. More surprisingly, it would appear that it also works on puppies and dogs. Moreover, it is not uncommon to hear masters talking to their pooch in this way. And they are right !
The dog’s social performance improves as it grows up
Obviously, not all puppies were as responsive, as Emily Bray explains: “Some puppies block their gaze on you, others sleep in a corner looking like they don’t care.” Nevertheless, of the 160 of the puppies the team followed into adulthood and tested again on the same tasks “performance improved with age, especially in areas such as impulse control. and social signals “. “They can do it when they’re young, but do it even better as an adult.”
These results will allow the researcher’s team to make the selection and training process more effective and efficient. “For example, a puppy’s willingness to make and maintain eye contact is predictive of its growth to become a successful service dog,” she says.
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