Do dogs follow human social cues? A replication with family dogs in Japan

Abstract

According to the experimental studies conducted by European and American researchers, domestic dogs are good performers in choosing a container based on gestures provided by humans. Some researchers have argued that this ability is a product of domestication. We investigated whether family dogs in Japan can use social cues to locate food hidden in one of two small containers (pots). The tested cues were (1) pointing to the target pot with the contralateral hand (i.e., cross-body pointing), (2) turning the head to the target pot, and (3) kneeling behind the target pot (i.e., local enhancement). The performance was poor in the present study compared with the previous studies conduced in European/ American countries. As family dogs are well controlled in these countries compared to those in Japan, our data seem to challenge the domestication hypothesis and support the claim that social skill learning plays a critical role in this task.