Methods
They had the dog stay in a room with two doors at opposite ends and got volunteers (one the owner and another a stranger) to walk by from one door to another, in opposite directions, where they’ll meet in the middle and measured how long the dog focuses on each person. They were asked to cross the room several times.
Results
"Most of the dogs gazed at their owners for most of the time and then chose to wait by the owner's door," said Dr Mongillo, one of the scientists who conducted the study. He also said this was “an expected” result but it was never really measured.
If put into real life situations, dogs walk with their owners on a lead and in a busy city such as London, smells and sounds overwhelm the dogs so using sight as a sure and quick method to confirm their owner’s presence is effective.
Repeat and modified
When the study was repeated with both participants’ faces covered, the dogs were less attentive to their owners. That shows how much the canines relied on human faces for recognition.
Dr Mongillo says “This might be a by-product from a thousand years of domestication”
Wild dogs rely on body signals and on cues from other animals in their social groups, but studies including this one suggest that domestic dogs are so attuned to human social groups that they are even able to recognise some human facial expressions.
Studies of the genetic differences between dogs and their wolf ancestors suggests that canines were first domesticated between 15,000 and 40,000 years ago.
Dog dementia
“Aged dogs” of 7 years and above were less able to focus on their owners and were less likely to choose their owners’ doors.
"There have been studies to show that dog ageing is similar to human ageing in terms of cognitive impairment," said Dr Mongillo.
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