People think, and it’s normal, that they choose their dogs.

The truth is, dogs also choose us, or at least who they think will give them the best home.

Dogs have evolved alongside humans for thousands of years, so they have a pretty unique relationship with us.

Scientists studying canine psychology have already broken past assumptions about just how empathic and intelligent these dogs are.

There was an experiment in Japan that showed how dogs can discern who to trust.

Researchers would point to a container full of food with the dog quickly running towards it.

The experiment was repeated but with an empty container. The dog saw that the food wasn’t there anymore, and on the third attempt, the dog refused to go near the container.

The experiment was repeated with 34 puppies to check for consistency.

The experiment showed them that dogs don’t follow people who seem “untrustworthy”.

Researchers were surprised to see just how intelligent dogs really are.

Canines can follow visual cues. Dogs know when we point towards something, calling their attention to whatever the object or situation is.

If you are wondering, not all animals can do the same.

Another fact is that dogs learn from experience quickly. They know when a person is there to play or otherwise.

Dogs have this non-verbal language they share with humans.

They can change their minds and correct their behavior regardless if a person is pointing or gesturing towards a container or place.

Dogs know if it’s dangerous or if they can trust the person.

Akiko Takaoka of Kyoto University went on to say that this only shows that “dogs have more sophisticated intelligence than we thought”.

“These results suggest that not only dogs are highly skilled at understanding human pointing gestures, but also they make inferences about the reliability of a human who presents cues and consequently modify their behavior flexibly depending on the inference.” The research stated.

It probably won’t surprise you to know that dogs are capable of learning so much more.

Another study carried out by researchers showed that these animals can learn words.

Dogs have the uncanny ability to remember more than 1,000 different words when trained well.

So naturally, researchers found out that dogs are able process the words we use and not just how the words are said.

These skills may have played a big factor in terms of their evolution alongside humans.

A relationship this deep doesn’t surprise dog lovers to know that dogs are emotionally connected to their owners.

The caudate nucleus is a part of the brain that’s involved in emotional attachment.

This part of a dog’s brain flared up with a lot of activity when they were presented with their owner’s smell.

We all know how amazing dogs are. They are loyal, loving, smart, and even funny.

But these studies show us that they are so much more.

They’re not just smart. Try intelligent for animals.

You won’t look at your pooch the same way again.

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Source: Indy100, Vox