Domestic dogs’ (Canis familiaris) social cognition and communication with humans

Dogs are considered highly social animals, but for many decade dogs’ social cognition and communication were not studied separately from other canids. Many new researches carried out with domestic dogs had shown that in the course of domestication they developed utmost interspecific social cognition. It is presumably based on the similarities between human and wolf societies, where high level of dog-human communication was necessary for successful social organisation and coherence during activities. It was confirmed that dogs can understand human body language and they may use it to adjust their own behaviour. They are able to learn by imitation from humans and to generalize. Dogs may follow human signalling such as pointing or gazing to find a food. They may prefer to rely upon human’ s instructions instead of making their own decision, even when humans’ guidance is misleading. In situations of uncertainty they may search for human assistance and help. Furthermore, dogs are able to transmit a lot of information to human partners. Domestic dogs are more vocal than other canids and they may vocalise to attract human attention, or to convey information about their mood and intentions. When dog and human play together a high level of social compliancy is acquired by mutual exchange of different communicative signals between two species. In conclusion, dogs’ social cognition is interesting for science and has a high importance for development of sound pet dog– owner relationship.