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How Dogs Understand It's Time to Meet Their Owner: A Popular Myth Debunked
22.11.2023 15:06
Often dogs come out to greet their owner at the door even before he rings the doorbell or starts opening it with his key.
What exactly tells pets that their owner is about to show up on the doorstep remained a mystery for a long time. In the end, everything was attributed to extrasensory abilities.
Scientists don't like secrets, so they decided to check whether this was really true. As a result, the popular myth was dispelled.
The essence of the experiment
Harvard University biochemistry researchers decided to test the popular hypothesis.
The experimental dog was left without its owner for a certain period of time under the supervision of other people.
Every time the dog came to the window a few minutes before the owner entered the house. The dog even met the car in which the owner drove up to the house.
In the end, it was decided to complicate the experiment. The owner arrived in someone else's car, by taxi, or returned on foot. But the dog remained true to his habit.
Results
Scientists have come to the conclusion that the dog's biological clock tells it when it is time to meet its owner.
The hypothesis was confirmed by similar studies. And other dogs behaved in a similar way.
However, the operating principle of this mechanism remains a mystery to scientists.
