Wolves better learners than dogs

Dogs are known to be good learners but their close relatives wolves are better at it, claims new research.

Scientists at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, have undertaken experiments that suggest that wolves observe one another more closely than dogs and so are better at learning from one another.

The scientists believe that cooperation among wolves is the basis of the understanding between dogs and humans.

Wolves were domesticated more than 15,000 years ago and it is widely assumed that the ability of domestic dogs to form close relationships with humans stems from changes during the domestication process.

Friederike Range and Zsófia Virányi from University of Veterinary Medicine found that wolves are considerably better than dogs at opening a container, provided they have previously watched another animal do so.

Their study involved 14 wolves and 15 mongrel dogs, all about six months-old, hand-reared and kept in packs.

Each animal was allowed to observe one of two situations in which a trained dog opened a wooden box, either with its mouth or with its paw, to gain access to a food reward.

Surprisingly, all of the wolves managed to open the box after watching a dog solve the puzzle, while only four of the dogs managed to do so.

Wolves more frequently opened the box using the method they had observed, whereas the dogs appeared to choose randomly whether to use their mouth or their paw.

"Their problem-solving capability really seems to be based on the observation of a dog performing the task," says Range.

"The wolves watched the dog very closely and were able to apply their new knowledge to solve the problem.

"Their skill at copying probably relates to the fact that wolves are more dependent on cooperation with one another than dogs are and therefore pay more attention to the actions of their partners," added Range.

The findings were published in the journal PLOS ONE.