Did you know that dogs, no matter they are havanese dogs or yorkshire terrier dogs, automatically imitate their owners? Sounds unbelievable, yet it’s true.
So not only humans but dogs are also prone to automatic or instinctive imitation. Moreover, dogs are learning people by imitating and it’s a form of flattery. Dogs even imitate the yawns which is simply striking. And the most surprising is that even if they don’t intend to copy, they automatically do so without any special pets training.
The recent studies of Austrian researcher Dr. Friederike Range and her team discovered amazing truth with a door-opening test. She and her colleagues built a box with sliding door which could be easily opened with a knob.
Then they divided the dogs into two groups. The owners showed how to open the door both with the help of hand and the mouth. When they opened it with hand, the dog did the same with the paw and got the reward, when they opened the door with mouth, the dog followed their example and got the reward again.
The second group of the dogs had to do vice versa, in other words when the owner opened the door with hand he should have done the same with mouth. This supposed some dog pet training.
But the dogs in the second group followed humans again. It means that dogs learned the second task harder and this shows that dogs have predisposition to imitate movement of humans automatically, so you basically don’t need to get dog training DVDs to develop your pet obedience. Although it is a fact that dogs develop more when being trained.
Dogs’ imitation of humans is really great but as the animal develops he learns more of human behavior, which according to Dr. Range carries some risks as well.
Still, it should be very interesting and funny to watch your pet dog performing the same tasks. Enjoy the company of your smart dog and remember that if your pets imitate you, it means that they refer to you as their best pet trainers.
Photo © Kelly West Mars
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