Dogs are using touch screen computers now!

In the training phase the dogs were shown a landscape photo and dog photo simultaneously on a computer screen. When they nose-selected the dog, they received a treat.

To test whether the canines could transfer the learned info to a new situation, the researchers flashed onto the screens a different set of dog-landscape photographs. Sure enough, the four-legged subjects chose the dog photographs.

Then, the researchers added a twist: The dog pictures were pasted onto the landscape pictures used in the training phase.

In this test, the dogs had to choose between a dog-on-landscape image and a landscape-only photo. Good doggies: They aced the test, selecting the images that included dogs.

The results indicate, according to the authors, the dogs were able to form a concept of a “dog.” Whether the dogs recognized the pup pictures as actual dogs, however, is an unknown.

Duh. Dogs watch t.v.! AND, dogs always know other dogs. Back when Tess was a puppy I brought a Collie calendar home and hung it up at roughly her height. When she entered the room she stopped short and tried to engage the ‘other’ pup! It was hanging on a filing cabinet, so she tried to go around the cabinet to sniff the ‘other’ pup’s butt. It was hilarious, until she got that sad little look on her face that said “Oh. The cruel humans tricked me again.”

I’d like to know how much money went into this study, because I would have donated my dog and an old computer for free. Well, unless they hooked car batteries up to her nipples, or something.