You may think that you can win your dog over by giving them extra treats - but scientists have proven that isn't actually the case. According to new research, canines are unable to differentiate between humans based on their generosity.
Animal behaviourists from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna in Austria conducted a study to see if dogs would approach a generous handler over a selfish one. But surprisingly, they didn't favour the gift-giving human - this is because canines cannot remember incidences of generosity.
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The study examined nine wolves and six dogs to see if they had a preference between the handler that gave out treats and the handler that didn't.
The first phase involved the animals watching a 'generous' human feed a dog and a 'selfish' human withhold food.
Afterwards, the test animals demonstrated if they had a favourite by choosing which of the two people to approach.
The second phase examined whether the wolves and dogs formed reputations after interacting directly with both humans.
The results of the study suggested that the generous handler didn't have a better reputation with the test animals.
"We found that dogs and wolves, at the group level, did not differentiate between a generous or selfish partner after indirect or direct experience," the paper explained.
However, some wolves and dogs did appear more attentive towards the generous person and preferred them in certain circumstances.
The report was published in the journal PLOS ONE and questioned whether "reputation formation may be more difficult than expected for animals", or if it is even possible at all.
Further research is needed to examine if animals are more likely to act differently in dangerous or stressful situations, such as if they are very hungry.
"The animals were not food-deprived before the test, thus they may not have been very motivated to choose the generous partner," the paper read.
Another new study found that dogs cry 'happy tears' when their owners come home and greet them.
The research was recently carried out at Azabu University in Japan and found that dogs had more tears in their eyes than normal when reunited with their families.
Professor Takefumi Kikusui, who was surprised by the results, explained: "We had never heard of the discovery that animals shed tears in joyful situations, such as reuniting with their owners, and we were all excited that this would be a world first!
It was already known that the hormone is released in dogs and their owners when they play, but studying the reunification of the two is new.
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