How to Get Dogs to Listen to Commands? Scientists Say They Have Found a Good Method

If you have a pet dog, you may have noticed that when you ask your dog to fetch your slippers, it may not understand what you’re saying or have trouble paying attention. Scientists have found a perfect strategy to help dogs concentrate and follow instructions, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna in Austria, as reported by Agence France-Presse.

The study’s lead author, postdoctoral researcher Christoph Voelter, explained to AFP that pointing and gazing at an object is the best way to get a dog to follow instructions. Voelter emphasized that combining eye contact and gestures from the owner can be even more powerful in getting the dog’s attention and obedience.

In this research, 20 dogs, including mixed breed dogs, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Australian Shepherds, and Poodles, were fitted with headgear to accurately track where their eyes were focusing in a series of situations. Each dog was then presented with a kneeling researcher on either side, each holding a bowl with only one containing hidden food.

The researchers then exposed the dogs to five different scenarios, each repeated six times. For example, the researcher might gaze at the dog while pointing at the bowl, or gaze and point at the bowl simultaneously, or simply stare at the bowl without any gesture.

They even played a classic prank on the dogs that many pet owners use – pretending to throw a ball in the direction of the bowl but actually hiding the ball in their hand.

The recordings from the dogs’ headgear showed that the dogs performed best when the researcher both gazed and pointed at the bowl. Their performance was worst when the researcher pretended to throw the ball.

For the researchers, this finding suggests that dogs follow human cues for communication rather than just directional cues. In other words, dogs understand the meaning of the information they receive rather than just blindly following directions.

Voelter also noted that it is still an open question how much dogs truly understand about what is happening. Further research in the field of natural pedagogy is needed to delve deeper into this aspect.