Explaining Wolf-Dog Differences In The Ability To Follow Human Cues

In the chapter on domestication in NOT A CHIMP I present evidence showing that dogs are much better than chimps and wolves (from whom dogs are supposed to have evolved) at following human pointing gestures as to the location of food. I also show that tamed Arctic foxes are as good as dogs on these sorts of tasks. So, have dogs (tamed wolves) and tamed foxes evolved some aspects of social intelligence that is peculiar to the domestication process, and, if so, what? Adam Miklosi and colleagues from Eotvos University in Hungary have added a little complexity to the story. They show that socialised young wolves are capable of following simple human pointing cues after all - though there is delayed emergence of these social skills compared with dogs. The young wolves had been human-reared and bottle fed since pups. The experimenter drops food into bowls in a hidden way by turning away from the subject. On turning back and placing bowls to her left and right she signals with a finger point which bowl has the food - it is not possible, because of the equipment, for the animal to use its own sense of smell. The wolves equaled the performance of dogs on the simpler task where the pointing finger is less than 50 cm. from the bowl, but slightly worse which the pointing gesture was more distal - in excess of 50 cm. Also, the wolves took longer to attend to the experimenter - they took longer to establish eye contact, stop wrestling with their handlers and stop attempting to bite the experimenter! The researchers conclude that, while the difference between human reared wolves and dogs on these tasks is not as marked as previously thought, the delay in the wolves suggests they do not react to the same extent to extensive socialisation as the dogs which "are able to control agonistic behaviours". In other words the dogs are still slightly ahead because their natural tendency for fight or flight has been bred out of them over thousands of years of co-existence with humans. They therefore find it easier to fix attention on humans with less fear and aggression.