London - If you thought dogs used their acute sense of smell to find a buried bone, you’d be barking up the wrong tree.
In fact, Fido relies on his memory more than his nose to find hidden treats.
The discovery was made by American scientists who used a game to test 500 dogs in their own homes around the world.
Each pet watched its owner place two cups upside down in front of them, then put a treat under one of the cups.
The dog’s eyes were then covered and the food was moved to the second cup. But when the dog was allowed to see the cups again, instead of using its sense of smell to find the food, most simply ran towards the cup in which they had seen the food deposited.
Researcher Evan MacLean, from Duke University in North Carolina, said: ‘Most people think dogs use their sense of smell for everything. But actually dogs use a whole range of senses when solving problems.'
Dr MacLean, who studies almost all animals other than cats, said: 'It is hard for me to think of a situation where having a good memory would not be an advantage. Memory is important for any sort of planning and understanding patterns and for making predictions about the world. Memory is crucial for all of that for any animal.'
The study, which used the internet to recruit and test dogs in their own homes, also investigated the phenomenon of contagious yawning.
Some research has shown that just as one person often seems to yawn after someone else yawns, a dog can 'catch' its owner's yawns.
Dr MacLean said: 'The idea is that it is a very primitive form of empathy. The dog is not necessarily feeling bad because its owner is feeling bad but it is tuning into their emotional state in its own way.'
Dr MacLean's study, published in the journal Public Library of Science One, did not find any evidence of the phenomenon.
But it did find that different dogs have different strengths
Some dogs had a better memory, others were better at taking their master's perspective or at communicating.
Co-researcher Brian Hare said: 'Most people think of intelligence as a glass that is more or less full.
'But intelligence is more like ice cream. Everybody has different flavours. Being good at one thing doesn't mean you'll be good at everything else.'
Daily Mail