When you go to the park with your dog, do they sometimes gravitate towards dogs of the same breed? In order to find out whether a dog can recognise another canine friend, researches decided to test it out for themselves.

A study based on comparison

Researchers presented dogs with two screens, either with pictures of dogs or of the colour blue. When the dogs went towards the screen with the photo of the dog, they were rewarded. If they went towards the other, they got nothing.

The point was to reward a dog simply when they recognised another dog. In order to continue with the test, the dogs had to go to the dog on the screen at least 10 times out of 12.

The second stage was harder to complete. The researchers complicated the task by showing different animal faces. Some were of dogs and other of cows, sheep and even humans.

According to the type of dog, the speed of identification changed. Most dogs managed to correctly identify the dog faces without other indications that would usually be present in a face-to-face meeting, such as smell and touch. In other words, the dogs managed to identify their furry friends.

The findings suggested that dogs can indeed recognise other dogs and interestingly, even found the task easier when faced with those of the same breed.

Another reason to love our canine friends (not that we needed anymore!).

Source: IHeartDogs

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