Generosity has long been considered a uniquely human characteristic. However, some species such as rats, chimpanzees and other animals also exhibit similar behavior. This is the conclusion reached by a study by the Messerli Research Institute (Austria).
In fact, scientists had previously shown that dogs also share food treats with other dogs, especially if they already know them or are part of the same family.
Object recognition to deliver treats
To carry out the study, the dogs had to recognize special objects that were used to deliver food rewards to other dogs.
The dogs were first trained to touch a token in exchange for a food reward for them. The animals were then trained to recognize two more tokens: one that was used to deliver a reward to a companion dog and one that was not.
Finally, three experiments were carried out to check if the dogs had a prosocial behavior and, therefore, delivered the food to their companion.
In the first phase of the experiment, the dogs (who may or may not have known each other) saw each other and were together in the same enclosure. In the second test, the enclosure was empty, but the other dog was present in the test room. Finally, in the third phase (the most complicated) the animals were completely alone and could not see each other in any way.
Study conclusions
The scientists were able to confirm that the dogs exhibit prosocial behavior even in the most complicated phase of the experiment, as almost all chose to share the reward.
Also, most of the dogs preferred to share food with dogs they already knew. In fact, the unknown dogs were rewarded almost three times less in comparison.
On the other hand, the scientists showed that the presence of a companion is important for the motivation of the dogs. Thus, even when the dogs were not in the same enclosure (but could be seen in the testing room) the animals were more motivated to give a reward. On the other hand, when they were alone in the room the amount of rewards decreased.
