The Surprising Limits of the Human-Dog Bond
Researchers continue to try to understand the relationship between owners and their dogs, and the degree of altruism, or selflessness, dogs show in different situations with their human.
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
In a study investigating reciprocity between dogs and humans, pet dogs received food from humans but did not return the favor
The results appear to show that dogs weren’t interested in reciprocating the receipt of food from a human
However, there could be explanations why the study didn’t show reciprocity in dogs, including “methodological inadequacies” or the simple possibility that dogs don’t consider themselves to be providers of food for humans
Past research has shown that dogs exhibit emotional contagion, which is regarded as a basic form of empathy; in one example, dogs were more likely to rescue their owner from a wooden box when they showed signs of stress than when they were calm
The human-dog bond is undeniably strong, but researchers are still trying to pin down the ins and outs of a typical relationship between a guardian and their dog. It’s known that dogs can show helpful or prosocial behaviors that benefit others when it comes to helping other dogs. They’ve been found, for instance, to pull a tray of food toward a familiar canine friend or choose a token that would reward a familiar dog in an adjacent enclosure.1
These prosocial behaviors are prerequisites for reciprocity and cooperative behavior. Dogs have even been found to be helpful to animals of other species, but when it comes to humans, researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria, found that dogs aren’t always altruistic.2
Dogs Didn’t Reciprocate Food-Giving to Humans
In order to investigate whether dogs reciprocate the receipt of food from humans, researchers trained 37 pet dogs to dispense food by pushing a button. The dogs were then paired with two humans they did not know. One of them helped the dog by dispensing food into the dog’s enclosure, while the other person was unhelpful and did not dispense food for the dog.
The set-up was then reversed, giving the dog a chance to dispense food into the human’s enclosures. No difference was found in how often the dogs dispensed food to the helpful or unhelpful human. In a second study, the dogs were able to freely interact with their owner and the human partners they had interacted with for the previous study.
Again, there was no difference in the time the dogs spent with, or the time it took to approach, the helpful or the unhelpful human.3 The results appear to show that dogs weren’t interested in reciprocating the receipt of food from a human, with the researchers noting, “In our study, pet dogs received food from humans but did not return the favor."4
However, there could be explanations why the study didn’t show reciprocity in dogs, including “methodological inadequacies.” According to the study:5
“Although our results suggest that dogs do not reciprocate help received from humans, they also suggest that the dogs did not recognize the cooperative or uncooperative act of the humans during the experience phase.
It is plausible that aspects of the experimental design hindered the emergence of any potential reciprocity. However, it is also possible that dogs are simply not prosocial towards humans in food-giving contexts.”
Dogs Rescue Their Owners
The featured study findings are surprising given past research that has shown dogs exhibit emotional contagion, which is regarded as a basic form of empathy. In one example, dogs were more likely to rescue their owner from a wooden box when they showed signs of stress than when they were calm. About half of the dogs in the study also spontaneously tried to rescue their owners even though they hadn’t been trained to do so.
According to the study, which was published in the journal Animal Cognition, “Neither was this behavior motivated by obedience nor by the motivation to re-establish social contact with the owner. We conclude that emotional contagion is a plausible mechanism underlying dogs' rescue behavior in the present protocol.”6
Dogs are also known to give food to dogs that have shared food with them previously,7 so it’s possible that the featured study didn’t ask the right questions, or in the right way.
Study Highlights the Difficulties of Animal-Human Research
Dogs, for instance, rely more on sense of smell than sight, so slight changes in the study design could lead to a different outcome. Speaking with Smithsonian magazine, Jeffrey Stevens, a psychology researcher at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, explained:8
“The key thing is, are we asking the question in the right way that the animals understand? Dogs in particular, they have a completely different world than we do right there … You want to make sure that you've really tried to set up a situation where the animals have the best opportunity to demonstrate their abilities.”
Another possibility is that the dogs may have shown reciprocity if the study used a different scenario, such as helping a person in danger,9 or it could be that the dogs didn’t fully understand the experimental setup.
So before assuming that your pup isn’t as loyal as you thought, it’s worth considering that the experiment may have set up the dogs to fail for the simple possibility that dogs don’t consider themselves to be providers of food for humans.10 As Gizmodo reported:11
“The authors note that our relationship with dogs tends to go one way when it comes to food; it’s not them giving us their dinner scraps. In a different context, like helping people trapped or in danger, a sense of charity among dogs might be there.”
Healthypets Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of your own veterinarian or doctor. Dr. Karen Becker cannot answer specific questions about your pet's medical issues or make medical recommendations for your pet without first establishing a veterinarian-client-patient relationship. Your pet's medical protocol should be given by your holistic veterinarian.