Abstract
Differences in pet dogs’ and captive wolves’ ability to follow human communicative intents have led to the proposition of several hypotheses regarding the possession and development of social cognitive skills in dogs. It is possible that the social cognitive abilities of pet dogs are induced by indirect conditioning through living with humans, and studying free-ranging dogs can provide deeper insights into differentiating between innate abilities and conditioning in dogs. Free-ranging dogs are mostly scavengers, indirectly depending on humans for their sustenance. Humans can act both as food providers and as threats to these dogs, and thus understanding human gestures can be a survival need for the free-ranging dogs. We tested the responsiveness of such dogs in urban areas toward simple human pointing cues using dynamic proximal points. Our experiment showed that pups readily follow proximal pointing and exhibit weaker avoidance to humans, but stop doing so at the later stages of development. While juveniles showed frequent and prolonged gaze alternations, only adults adjusted their behaviour based on the reliability of the human experimenter after being rewarded. Thus free-ranging dogs show a tendency to respond to human pointing gestures, with a certain level of behavioural plasticity that allows learning from ontogenic experience.
Highlights
Humans have domesticated several animal species over thousands of years, beginning with the dog [1]
Our experiment revealed interesting differences in the tendencies of free-ranging dogs to follow simple human pointing gestures at different stages of their development, thereby suggesting a role of ontogeny in the development of social cognition in these dogs
Pups were most responsive to the task, and showed the highest ability to follow dynamic proximal pointing
Summary
Humans have domesticated several animal species over thousands of years, beginning with the dog [1]. Generations of close association between humans and the various domesticated species has led to the development of certain degrees of communication and attachment with humans in these species. Several such species including goats, pigs, ferrets, horses, cats etc. Probably due to high degree of bonding present between dogs and humans, the social cognition of dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and their ability to interact with humans have made them one of the most extensively studied species in the recent past [7]. Dogs are capable of interacting and establishing social bonds with humans, which are similar to human caregiver-infant relationships [8].
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