Comparing pet and detection dogs (Canis familiaris) on two aspects of social cognition

Interspecific communication between dogs and humans enables dogs to occupy significant roles in human society, both in companion and working roles. Dogs excel at using human communicative signals in problem-solving tasks, and solicit human contact when unable to solve a problem. Dogs’ sociocognitive behavior likely results from a selection for attention to humans during domestication, but is highly susceptible to environmental factors. Training for particular tasks appears to enhance dog–human communication, but effects may depend on the nature of the relationship determined by their role. Our aim was to examine two types of social cognition (responsiveness to human gestures, and human-directed communicative behavior in an unsolvable task) in pet dogs (n = 29) and detection dogs (n = 35). The groups did not differ in their ability to follow human signals, but pets were less responsive to signals given by a stranger than by their owner. Pets also exhibited more human-directed gazing in the unsolvable task, showing a bias for gazing at their owner compared with the stranger, whereas detection dogs showed greater persistence in attempting to solve the task compared with pets. Thus, different aspects of dogs’ sociocognitive behavior may differentially vary as a function of selection or training for particular roles.