History tells us that dogs have been called "man's best friend" for centuries. Now, science may be able to explain why. And it's something many dog owners already know: Dogs can sense when their person is sad and will overcome obstacles trying to help.In a study published in a special issue of Learning & Behavior dedicated to the cognitive abilities of dogs, researchers studied pet dogs of various breeds and sizes along with their owners. Owners were asked to hum a song or cry from behind a door held closed by magnets. Researchers expected the crying owners' dogs to open the door more often. Instead, they found that dogs that opened the door to crying did so three times faster than humming owners' dogs.During the experiment, researchers also measured the stress levels of crying owners' dogs and found that those rushing to "rescue" their people showed lower stress levels, while dogs that didn't push open the door showed the most stress. The researchers interpret these results to mean that responding dogs were upset, but not too much to keep them from helping, while others were too upset by the crying to take action."Dogs have been by the side of humans for tens of thousands of years and they've learned to read our social cues," says lead author Emily Sanford. "Dog owners can tell that their dogs sense their feelings. Our findings reinforce that idea, and show that, like Lassie, dogs who know their people are in trouble might spring into action."
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