Dogs’ abilities to interpret human communicative signals are often cited as one of the key outcomes of domestication. A study published in 2009 in the journal Interaction Studies investigated whether breed differences reflect further selection for these skills beyond domestication itself. Researchers tested dogs from different breed groups on their ability to use human gestural cues to find hidden food.
The results revealed that even primitive breeds with relatively little history of human-directed selection were able to use cues successfully, suggesting that basic social skills emerged early in domestication. However, clear differences appeared between groups: working breeds such as shepherds and huskies performed significantly better than non-working breeds like basenjis and toy poodles when interpreting human gestures.
Importantly, the advantage of working breeds was not linked to their genetic relatedness to wolves. Instead, the findings support the hypothesis that intentional selective breeding for cooperation further enhanced communicative abilities in certain dogs, particularly those bred to work closely with humans in tasks like herding or pulling sleds.
The authors concluded that while all domestic dogs possess fundamental skills for understanding human communication, breed-specific selection pressures have shaped the degree to which these abilities are expressed. This research adds to the growing evidence that both domestication and later breeding practices contributed to the diversity of social cognition in dogs.
Source: Wobber, V., Hare, B. A., Koler-Matznick, J., Wrangham, R., & Tomasello, M. Interaction Studies, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1075/is.10.2.06wob
