This is obvious if you have a dog, but cool to see it studied.
My dog is a velcro dog, he follows me everywhere. If I change direction he will too. If I start to run he will too. One amusing thing on our walks is he will walk confidently, determinedly in one direction, as if he is rushing to a destination. Then if I change direction, he immediately does too, as if forgetting about his original destination in the first place. Anthropomorphizing a bit I know.
This article suggests all dogs are like this, mine just might do it to a stronger degree.
Dogs also spend a lot of time on leashes where they'll get yanked around if they don't pay attention to their human's movements. And many families specifically train and reward dogs to move in sync with them (heeling, agility). It seems obvious that synchrony is something that humans both train and selectively breed dogs for. I guess the point of this study is that synchrony is another way to measure social connection between dogs and humans and that this connection extends to children.
Incidentally, my dog behaves and is far more synchronized off than on leash, so much so that I'm trying to train her to be leash free. She listens a lot better like that for some reason.
As someone who grew up in a family of pet owners, the joke is anytime there is a story with "study" and "dog", that any dog owner could have told them that. This study is what we refer to as the "invisible leash" that dogs have with with their masters. The article also touches on mirroring behavior, which is also well known and even has a whole class of dog training based around it called "Do as I Do"[1] I trained my dog this way as a pup. AMA.
Dogs spend their lives trying to figure out what we want and the meaning of our words. Science has year to catch up to learn just how much they understand and how in-tune they are with their adopted pack.
There is a tendency to feel this way when anything in day to day experience (pet ownership, parenthood, career experience, etc.) overlaps with scientific study.
It's tempting to say "well, obviously" but it's a slippery slope. Beyond the obvious potential for confirmation bias, etc., when you do the science carefully, sometimes you find out what people "knew" was just wrong.
This happens often enough to make it worth the effort.
In the case of dogs you will probably find more things that is common knowledge with dog owners that science got wrong vs. things where science showed that owners were wrong.
They demonstrate that a wolf can be domesticated, but will still keep its distance and act independently from the domesticating humans.
Surprisingly, domesticated wolves test higher than dogs on intelligence tests. The show attributes dog behavior to a genetic mutation from their wolf ancestry. A similar mutation occurs in humans at 1:10k frequency called Williams Syndrome. One feature in this mutation is a form of learning disability; another is friendliness.
I've seen a canine behavioral study that said wolves were better problem solvers because, given the same task of opening a box, dogs gave up and switched tactics to asking for help from a human.
My dog moves when my two-year old does and is generally still otherwise. But I attribute this to my dog's survival instinct rather than an emotional bonding.
A few years ago I was in the Galapagos and met a German evolutionary biologist who pointed out some fur seals sleeping on the beach. It was a hot day but they were arranged in a neat line to sleep so they were touching.
He explained it was a group evolutionary advantage - if one of them wakes up because of a predator attack, for example, they’d all be woken up and hopefully most of them would manage to get away. I specifically remember him mentioning that dogs and puppies still have a slight preference for sleeping the same way.
I haven’t for the life of me been able to remember the word (or phrase?) he used to describe the behavior and every so often I Google in vain for more information. I can’t even recall whether the term he used was in english or german. Perhaps someone here can point me in the right direction?
I can't help you with the term you're looking for, but as far as seals are concerned, they're genetically very close to dogs. I'd expect similar behaviors.
The posture for a sleeping fur seal in water is called a jug handle. When seals are awake on the beach, they often lay in a banana pose, where they hold up their heads and tails out of the water.
Emotional bonding can be a survival instinct. If your dog has built a psychology (for lack of a better word) that leads it to mirror your family's behavior in appropriate ways, you're probably more likely to keep it (on the margins).
If you raise a cat from kitten so it doesn't experience negative memories/associations with humans, consistently and empathetically analyze what it wants, and earn it's trust, they will be unbelievably affectionate and attached.
If they meow at you or otherwise try to get your attention, they are trying to communicate something. I used to think they were just being cats doing random useless things like sniffing, pawing or meowing, but nearly every single time there was some scent I needed to deal with, a desire to poop/eat/move or something real that they were trying to communicate. If you consistently ignore their attempts at communication, they will stop trying after a few times (wouldn't you?) unless they're like starving. But if they know you pay attention and respond, they will communicate their wants to you pretty clearly. Nothing they do is random, there is always a reason for it.
I agree cats are much more intentional in their communication than people appreciate, but sometimes you can't just give the cat what it wants. my cat mainly meows for two reasons. he either wants food or he wants to go in the kitchen. unfortunately he can't be free fed because he will quickly become overweight. he's not allowed in the kitchen because he eats plants and jumps up on the stove, sometimes right next to an open flame. serious question: how would you handle this situation?
Cats can like you. The difference is that dogs think of you as a big upright dog, and cats think of you as something other than a cat. Dogs think of you as a peer, cats think of you as a pet or a fancy piece of furniture.
Seriously, dog owners know all this already. They know that me puting my hat on means I'm going outside, if I grab my keys they know I'm leaving the yard, when I pick up a ball to throw, they know to look at my face (facial cues) to determine which direction I am going to throw it in.
I think I’m ok with studies determining that things we think are obviously true are true.
1. Sometimes they turn out not to be true so it is good to do the study
2. It would be bad to do the study looking for a surprise, find no surprise, and then not publish the results. Probably some university PR department is trying to come up with something to say.
One thing that strikes me about my dog's awareness is he picks up on landmarks really easily. Once we get within a mile of the vet his demeanor changes and he becomes sulky. On the contrary, once we're in a mile or so from my mother's house he perks up and gets extremely excited. It'd be interesting to read research on how good a dog's spacial awareness is and how they manage to find themselves home while being miles away.
Their ability to smell is hundreds of thousands of times better than ours. We think outside smells like outside. They think every sidewalk tile smells a little different. They know that landmark because that smell reminds them of the vet.
I suspect all domesticated animals, and many non-domesticated animals that live in close human contact, also display such behaviors. My horses respond to hearing the door of the house close early in the morning, knowing that grain is soon on the way. My cattle hear the tractor start and start moving in their slow fashion to the hay feeder. If I holler in a particular way that often presages grain, they'll stampede to the location.
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My dog is a velcro dog, he follows me everywhere. If I change direction he will too. If I start to run he will too. One amusing thing on our walks is he will walk confidently, determinedly in one direction, as if he is rushing to a destination. Then if I change direction, he immediately does too, as if forgetting about his original destination in the first place. Anthropomorphizing a bit I know.
This article suggests all dogs are like this, mine just might do it to a stronger degree.
Dogs spend their lives trying to figure out what we want and the meaning of our words. Science has year to catch up to learn just how much they understand and how in-tune they are with their adopted pack.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC3OqbjlxkM
It's tempting to say "well, obviously" but it's a slippery slope. Beyond the obvious potential for confirmation bias, etc., when you do the science carefully, sometimes you find out what people "knew" was just wrong.
This happens often enough to make it worth the effort.
They demonstrate that a wolf can be domesticated, but will still keep its distance and act independently from the domesticating humans.
Surprisingly, domesticated wolves test higher than dogs on intelligence tests. The show attributes dog behavior to a genetic mutation from their wolf ancestry. A similar mutation occurs in humans at 1:10k frequency called Williams Syndrome. One feature in this mutation is a form of learning disability; another is friendliness.
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I really don't want a certain kind of people to ever hear this fact
He explained it was a group evolutionary advantage - if one of them wakes up because of a predator attack, for example, they’d all be woken up and hopefully most of them would manage to get away. I specifically remember him mentioning that dogs and puppies still have a slight preference for sleeping the same way.
I haven’t for the life of me been able to remember the word (or phrase?) he used to describe the behavior and every so often I Google in vain for more information. I can’t even recall whether the term he used was in english or german. Perhaps someone here can point me in the right direction?
i.e. You do your thing human and I'll do mine. See you later if I think you're nice and there's nothing better to do.
If they meow at you or otherwise try to get your attention, they are trying to communicate something. I used to think they were just being cats doing random useless things like sniffing, pawing or meowing, but nearly every single time there was some scent I needed to deal with, a desire to poop/eat/move or something real that they were trying to communicate. If you consistently ignore their attempts at communication, they will stop trying after a few times (wouldn't you?) unless they're like starving. But if they know you pay attention and respond, they will communicate their wants to you pretty clearly. Nothing they do is random, there is always a reason for it.
I have two - one is remote, aloof and probably wouldn't notice I was gone.
The other is affectionate, cuddly, always wants to sit on my knee and cries on a night when they get locked in the living room.
Personality wise complete opposite ends of the spectrum.
Seriously, dog owners know all this already. They know that me puting my hat on means I'm going outside, if I grab my keys they know I'm leaving the yard, when I pick up a ball to throw, they know to look at my face (facial cues) to determine which direction I am going to throw it in.
1. Sometimes they turn out not to be true so it is good to do the study
2. It would be bad to do the study looking for a surprise, find no surprise, and then not publish the results. Probably some university PR department is trying to come up with something to say.
Rupert Sheldrake had a Google Talk about this in 2008 [2]
[1] https://www.sheldrake.org/books-by-rupert-sheldrake/dogs-tha...
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hic18Xyk9is
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