{"id":316,"date":"2025-07-18T16:01:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T16:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/?p=316"},"modified":"2025-07-18T16:01:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T16:01:10","slug":"do-dogs-judge-people-study-finds-even-older-dogs-stay-neutral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wildscience\/2025\/07\/18\/do-dogs-judge-people-study-finds-even-older-dogs-stay-neutral\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Dogs Judge People? Study Finds Even Older Dogs Stay Neutral"},"content":{"rendered":"

We love to think of our dogs as wise judges of character \u2014 quick to snub a selfish stranger and cozy up to someone kind. But a new observational study from Kyoto University suggests that even our most experienced canine companions may not be making such judgments after all. Researchers tested whether pet dogs of different ages could form opinions about humans based on generosity and found no evidence that dogs, young or old, preferred helpful people over stingy ones.<\/p>\n

Dogs watched others interact \u2014 then chose at random<\/h2>\n

The research team, led by Hoi-Lam Jim, observed how 40 pet dogs behaved after watching two unfamiliar humans interact with another dog. One person played the \u201cgenerous\u201d role, feeding the dog, while the other withheld food. Later, the dogs were released to interact freely with the two humans.<\/p>\n

Across all age groups \u2014 young (1\u20133 years), adult (4\u20137 years), and senior (8\u201312 years) \u2014 the dogs showed no consistent preference for the generous person. \u201cIt\u2019s clear that reputation formation may be more complex than previously thought, even for animals like dogs that closely cooperate with humans,\u201d Jim explained. Even after directly experiencing generosity and selfishness firsthand, dogs still didn\u2019t reliably favor the kind partner over the stingy one.<\/p>\n

Key findings from the study:<\/h2>\n