Have you ever wondered if your dog is judging you?
Maybe you look over and your pup has one little eyebrow quirked up. (Lucas did that ALL the time!)
Or maybe you feel like you and your dog are really attuned to one another’s behavior, so certainly your dog notices when you mess up?
On the flip side, we never have to wonder if another human is judging us. For instance…
Has this happened to you, too?
You’re at the park. Your dog has been fine all day, but suddenly his stomach goes wonky. You try to pick it all up. You really do. But you end up scooping a bit of grass with it and then kicking some leaves over top because you truly did your best.
You stand up to adjust the leash and move on, only to catch the eye of the disgruntled man sitting on a park bench. He sneers. He gags. He yells at you to clean up after your dog.
Oh, the judgment.
It does not feel good.
It feels uncomfortable to be on the receiving end, but the truth is, all of us humans can be pretty darn judgey. I don’t think there’s a one of us who hasn’t judged another for a mistake.
Researchers in Kyoto, Japan, discovered dogs can be judgey, too.
Well, some dogs. And, they don’t judge us in the same way that we humans judge each other. In fact, their way is kinda cute once you break it down. So, let’s do just that!
Here’s how your dog judges you
First, if you want to dig into the study, here’s a link to access the research: “Female dogs evaluate levels of competence in humans.”
So, the gist of the experiment is that randomly-selected pet dogs watched two people manipulate a box. One person, the “competent” person, opened it easily. The other person, the “incompetent” person, did not.
Then, the researchers put a treat in the boxes.
The male dogs in the study asked the competent and incompetent people for the treats pretty equally.
The female dogs?
A whopping 83 percent of the time, the females asked the person they witnessed to be competent.
This was true regardless of age, neuter status, and if the dogs knew the box was empty vs. if it had a treat.
What do the results mean? The study suggests dogs can tell who is the more competent human and will adjust their behavior accordingly–with female dogs consistently being more discerning.
Why female dogs?
The authors didn’t test or explore this question. Rather, they observed that the study’s results open the door to a lot more research.
I’m curious if you have any theories. Please share them in the comments!
One thought I had:
It would be beneficial from an evolutionary perspective if female dogs were even more sensitive and attuned to human behavior because they would be able to understand our cues and respond more readily, which would ultimately help them keep their puppies safe.
What does this study tell us about how dogs judge us?
We already know dogs are astute observers of human behavior.
This study layers in interesting questions about sex differences in those social skills. It also opened up several new avenues for researching how dogs predict our behavior and adjust their behavior accordingly.
What this study does not tell us is how dogs feel about us as they assess us as either competent or incompetent.
What’s the difference between identifying a mistake and judging someone for that mistake?
This is the big difference, in my opinion, because we humans snarl at each other for slights–perceived or real–whereas our dogs seem to judge us based on actual, observable abilities.
I saw a comment on Reddit that said: “Even if the world doesn’t love you, your dog will.” And, I’ll add: regardless of whether or not you can manipulate a box.
Does your dog judge you? Have you observed judgmental behavior from the pups in your life? What do you think is the reason the female dogs were more attuned to competency than the male dogs? I’d love to know in the comments!
BTW, if you enjoyed this post, I’m thrilled! And you’ll probably enjoy my forthcoming book, For the Love of Dog, from Regalo Press in February 2025. It’s chock full of the latest research in canine cognition combined with stories of my dogs to bring that research to life.
To stay up-to-date on the latest with my publication news, please join the mailing list or follow along on Instagram. I’d love to connect with you more!
Read More