Free-ranging dogs are capable of comprehending complex human pointing cues

Abstract

Dogs are the most common species to be found as pets and have been subjects of human curiosity leading to extensive research on their socialization with humans. One of the dominant themes in dog cognition pertains to their capacity of understanding and responding to human referential gestures. The remarkable socio-cognitive skills of pet dogs, while interacting with humans, is quite well established. However, studies regarding the free-ranging subpopulations are greatly lacking. Free-ranging dogs represent an ideal system to investigate interspecific communication with unfamiliar humans, nullifying any contribution of indirect conditioning. The interactions of these dogs with humans are quite complex and multidimensional. For the first time, we tested free-ranging dogs’ ability to understand relatively complex human referential gestures using dynamic and momentary distal pointing cues. We found that these dogs are capable of apprehending distal pointing cues from humans. However, approximately half of the population tested showed a lack of tendency to participate even after successful familiarization with the experimental set-up. A closer inspection revealed anxious behavioural states of the individuals were responsible for such an outcome. We assume that life experiences with humans probably shape personalities of free-ranging dogs, which in turn influence their responsiveness to human communicative gestures.

Following the dogs of Prishtina: landscape as living memorial

“…On the reverse side, activists articulate the dangers posed to the dogs by human negligence and cruelty. 12 Other scholarship and practice offers a more complex narrative of co-living between humans and dogs in society (Bhattacharjee et al, 2020;Huff & Haefner, 2012;Kirk, Pemberton, & Quick, 2019;Leep, 2018;Sykes et al, 2020;Wischermann & Howell, 2018;Zahara, & Hird. 2015).…”