If you have ever found that the behavior or reactions of a small child and a puppy are very similar, you are right.
A new study from the University of Arizona found that The social interaction habits of two-year-olds and puppies are very similar.
Social communication, the possible key
The researchers analyzed the behavior of children, dogs and chimpanzees in order to look for similarities in his cognition. To do this, they performed different tests, both verbal and nonverbal, and analyzed the response method of each group.
The data of 522 dogs of different races and origins (service dogs, dogs that were in the militia detecting bombs and dogs that were family pets) were compared with those of chimpanzee studies of an animal life sanctuary in Africa and the data of 105 two-year-old children who had already gone through similar tests.
Evan MacLean, director of the Arizona Canine Cognition Center and one of the authors of this study, commented in an interview with Phys.org that scientists have been analyzing and investigating how human development differs from other animals, and that the key could be social communication.
"There has been a lot of research that shows that the same social skills do not really exist in chimpanzees, but they have been found in dogs, which suggested that something similar superficially exists between dogs and children. The biggest and deepest question we wanted to explore was whether that really is just a superficial similarity or if there is any different kind of social intelligence that we see in both species"MacLean mentions in the interview.
In the basic communication skills tests the results showed that puppies and children with very similar. For example, when a prize was hidden from puppies and a toy from children, both responded to nonverbal clues, such as pointing or pointing, while chimpanzees did not respond to these types of signals.
The study noted that, although it is not clear if the cognition of humans and dogs share some common structure, certain similar behaviors point to signs that both species may have evolved in similar environments.
"We found that there is a pattern, where dogs that are good in one of these social situations tend to be good in many others related to them, something similar that we find in children, but not found in chimpanzees. Some things that happened in human evolution were very similar to the processes that happened when dogs were domesticated. So, potentially, studying dogs and their domestication, we can learn something about human evolution"says MacLean.
According to him, this study might even have the potential to help researchers better understand certain human disorders that may include lack of social skills, such as autism.
The relationship between children and puppies
Is this the reason we see that there are babies and children who have a unique friendship with their pets? They say that the dog is man's best friend, and on many occasions some babies and children have shown it to us, because until it seems that they understand perfectly are your pets.
Babies are adorable and seeing a puppy gives us tenderness, so when they get together, the scene is one that causes us a smile. In Babies and more we have shared some beautiful stories of children and their dogs that have stolen our hearts. Here I remind you of some of the most beautiful:
A post shared by Forest Fairy ✨ (@ivetteivens) on Jan 30, 2017 at 11:32 pm PST
Dilan and his French bulldog named Farley are so close that they sleep together, eat together and even bathe together. Farley was adopted by Dilan's mother, photographer Ivette Ivens, when she realized that the puppy was born on the same day as her baby.
A post shared by Jessica Shyba (@mommasgonecity) on Nov 7, 2016 at 12:23 pm PST
We also have the story of Theo, a puppy without a breed, and Beau. The mother tells in her blog that since the third day that Theo arrived home, she got used to taking a nap with Beau and since then they are inseparable.
A post shared by Siena and Buddha (@cutieandthebeast) on Oct 8, 2015 at 7:36 pm PDT
A very nice story is that of Siena and her dog Buddah, an affectionate and protective doberman who breaks the myth that this breed is dangerous. In his images we see only love and a beautiful friendship.
A post shared by Reagandoodle (@reagandoodle) on Feb 19, 2017 at 1:32 pm PST
The most recent tender friendship we've shared with you is that of Buddy and his dog Reagan. His story is moving: both were adopted and when they met their connection was immediate, becoming inseparable.
As we can see, the friendship between children and dogs is something unique and very tender. It seems that they understand each other and know exactly what they want from each other. They remind me a lot of the video of a boy and his dog, who are walking but the boy stops because he wants to jump back in a puddle and his faithful friend waits patiently for him to finish as saying: "Go, I'll wait for you here" .
I like to think that probably the results found in this study, where they show that children and dogs are similar in terms of social communication, are the reason for these curious and unconditional friendships.
