Would your dog choose you over his food? Although Im quite confident that my pooch would run to his chow instead of me research shows otherwise. Studies (although inclusive) show that they may link people with providing their meals and therefore may if given the choice decide on their human partner’s praise rather than their food. Seems its a toss up between the two. My pooch Im quite confident would if given the opportunity to enjoy an extra “wish bone” snack or a verbal praise from me, would definitely choose the wish bone!
Key Takeaways:
- They argue that from the dog’s perspective it is the food which is most important and, given a choice between a person and a food bowl, most dogs would opt for the edible snack rather than social interaction
- The argument as to the relative importance of food versus social contact in our relationship to dogs has raged for years.
- In the middle of the 20th century a similar argument was raging — only then it was focused on the nature of mother-love.
“The researchers recognized that the dogs responses while confined in an MRI chamber constituted a very artificial situation. So they next decided to to see if these fMRI brain responses predicted what the dogs would do if they were given an actual choice between their owner and some food in the real world.”
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201608/do-your-dog-love-you-more-food