envy is a dog’s life
To the endless list of the qualities of dogs — enthusiastic
and steadfast come to mind — can be added another.
That pooch of yours, researchers say, may be jealous.
Scientists in Austria report in The Proceedings of the
Ever wondered how smart your dog is? New research says poochie
National Academy of Sciences, that a dog may stop obey-
could be as intelligent as a 2-year-old child. According to a recent study
ing a command if it sees that another dog is getting a bet-
by Canadian psychologist and canine researcher, Stanley Coren, of the
ter deal.
University of British Columbia, dogs exhibit intelligence levels that are
Independent studies have shown monkeys often
comparable with the intelligence level of human toddlers.
express resentful behaviour when a partner receives a
At a recent American Psychological Association annual meeting in
greater reward for performing an identical task, staging
strikes or ignoring what they view as inferior compensa-
Toronto, Coren- speaking on the topic “How dogs think” - noted that
tion. It turns out dogs are able to show a similar, if less
recent findings have shown that dogs are nearly as smart as two or two-
sensitive, response.
and-a-half year old children. Saying that the average dog can compre-
Dogs sulked and refused to “shake” paws if other
hend as many as 150 words and gestures - with the ‘smarter’ ones
dogs got treats for tricks and they did not, said Friederike
understanding up to 250 words. Coren added that they cannot only
Range, an animal psychologist at the University of Vienna,
deliberately deceive people, the way they deceive other dogs, but also
who led the study into canine emotions. “It is a more
outwit humans in certain instances. He even went on to suggest that
complex feeling or emotion than what we would normally
dogs can count.
attribute to animals.” The study also showed dogs licked
dogs as clever as two
Raving about the abilities
and scratched themselves and acted stressed when they
of dogs, Coren said: “We all were denied rewards given to other dogs.
year old babies
want insight into how our The study tried to quantify the behaviour by using
furry companions think, and well-trained dogs that readily offer a paw on command.
we want to understand the silly, quirky and apparently irrational behav- The researchers used two dogs side by side but treated
iours Lassie or Rover demonstrate. Their stunning flashes of brilliance
them differently, giving one a better reward (sausage) and
and creativity are reminders that they may not be Einsteins
the other a lesser one (bread) when the paw was given,
but are sure closer to humans than we thought.”
or giving one dog no reward at all.
Coren, who explored a
Dogs not given a treat licked their mouths, yawned,
number of studies to find
scratched and showed other signs of stress and stopped
the intelligence of dogs, said
performing the task, Range said. To show this was not just
that on the basis of intelli-
because the animals were not getting food, the
gence, dogs can be ranked
researchers then tested the dogs alone and found that in
this situation the envious canines cooperated longer
in the following order -
before stopping.
Border collies have the
“It is really about the unequal distribution of the
highest intelligence, fol-
reward,” Range said. “If it was only about frustration they
lowed by Poodles; German
would stop at the same time.”
shepherds; Golden retriev-
The finding may come as no surprise to some dog
ers; Dobermans; Shetland
owners, and it didn’t completely surprise Range, “We have
sheepdogs; and finally,
a dog at home,” she said, “and I know how jealous she is
Labrador retrievers!
of different people and situations.”
27
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