When facing an unfamiliar person, pet dogs present social referencing based on their owners’ direction of movement alone
When confronted with an unfamiliar object, dogs, Canis familiaris, engage in social referencing, i.e. synchronizing their reaction with that of their owner. The question of whether, like infants, they do so when confronted with an unfamiliar person, has not yet been studied. We tested the reactions of 72 pet dogs (36 shepherds and 36 molossoids) […]
Do shelter dogs engage in social referencing with their caregiver in an approach paradigm? An exploratory study
When confronted with an unfamiliar object or person, privately owned pet dogs engage in social referencing, synchronizing their reaction with that of their owners. The question of whether shelter dogs do so when confronted with a stranger has not yet been studied. We tested the reactions of 30 shelter dogs with their principal caregiver when […]