Sixth Sense #4: Human Generosity
We already know that dogs can be efficiently observant. That’s why they are known to pay great attention to how their owners act toward other humans.
The University of Milan conducted a behavioral experiment, where one group of actors shared their food with a homeless man, and another group aggressively told the man to leave. Afterward, the two groups tried to call the dogs at the same time. Nearly all of the dogs responded to the “generous” actors, and wouldn’t go near the other group.
Dogs can definitely sense intentions of kindness through displays like tone of voice and body stances. But generosity, as the experiment pointed out, places as much emphasis on justice and fairness as it does on kindness. In this respect, dogs can have as strong of a distinction between right and wrong as humans do.
Because of their strong moral compass, dogs expect fairness, so they may act out when you don’t behave accordingly. They will certainly let you know when they are disappointed about a selfish act.
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