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The Herald Sun wrote:Sure they are loyal - and lovable and cute and all the rest. But experts say it's high time dogs took a good hard look at themselves.
That's the plan, anyway, when Monash University's Anthrozoology Research Group starts two ground-breaking studies on Monday.
In a scientific kind of Dog Idol, they are searching for a super-mutt who knows itself in a mirror.
If just one pooch can, dogkind will join some elite company. Only bottlenose dolphins, great apes, Asian elephants and European magpies are proved to have that sort of self-awareness. And us!
It might also smarten up the sort of fashionista owners who put sailor suits on their pets.
The second study is to see if dogs pick up human feelings as much as owners think, and whether they come to us when we're sad - or turn tail.
To test that, humans will watch tear-jerker movies and the dog response will be observed.{snip}
"Dogs can do things that they really shouldn't be able to do with what we know about their brain structure and their evolutionary development," [Pauleen Bennett] says.
"They are able to understand human pointing. If I point, every other animal on the planet looks at my finger - except a dog. It will get that you're pointing at something over there.
"Somehow they are tuned into our body language much better than they should be."
Monthenor wrote:How will they know the dog isn't also being saddened directly by the movie? As is asking for hugz from their owner?
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