Like humans, dogs too have a conscience:Study

A new study has found that like humans, animals such as dogs, dolphins and wolves too have a conscience.

The research undertaken by National Research Tomsk State University reveals that dogs, in particular, show no interest in looking in the mirror, but usually sniff or urinate around it. Dogs and wolves, like dolphins, show a high level of cognitive complexity.

Lead researcher Roberto Cazzolla Gatti said that since dogs are much less sensitive to visual stimuli with respect to what, for example, humans and many apes are, it is likely that the failure of this and of other species in the mirror test was mainly due to the sensory modality chosen by the investigator to test the self-awareness and not, necessarily, to the absence of this latter.

After carrying out the experiments, the researchers have found that all dogs devoted more time to smell the urine samples of the others rather than their own, and this behavior confirmed the hypothesis that dogs seem to know their own smell exactly, they are less interested in their own, and they are therefore self-aware.

The study is published in the Journal of Ethology, Ecology and Evolution.