Dogs are just as selfless as you hoped, according to science

(Image credit: iStock)

published 16 December 2015

Human beings are one of only a handful of "prosocial" animals — meaning we volunteer to help or share with others, even when there might not directly be any benefit to ourselves. Primates are also prosocial, and experimental studies have shown that rats and jackdaws might be, too. Now, thanks to a study out of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, researchers believe we should be including dogs on that list.

In the test, the donor dogs used their mouths to pull a string to bring a tray toward a second dog. They could choose either an empty tray or a tray containing a treat on the partner's side […] At the end of each test run, the researchers conducted another test to show that the donor dogs knew what pulling the tray meant. They allowed the donor dogs to pull on a tray to give themselves a treat, and all dogs did just that. [Science Daily]

Once researchers had controlled for dogs who were just pulling the string for fun, they found that "dogs truly behave prosocially toward other dogs," especially when they were familiar with the other dog beforehand. "What we also found was that the degree of familiarity among the dogs further influenced this behavior. Prosocial behavior was exhibited less frequently toward unfamiliar dogs than toward familiar ones," study director Friederike Range said.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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