According to a new study by researchers at the University of Arizona, puppies are born with human-like social skills that allow them to communicate with humans from a very early age instead of learning later in life.
To determine whether the tendency to interact with humans was innate, researchers ran several experiments with 375 puppies who had little experience with humans. The puppies were all Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers or a mix of the two breeds.
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At just 8 weeks old, some of the puppies in the study showed a startling willingness to lock eyes with humans they didn't know and to take command cues, such as directions pointed out with a finger.
The findings suggested that dogs are biologically prepared for communication with humans. From a young age, dogs display human-like social skills without any prior experience or training. Researchers also concluded that some dogs are better at communication than others based on their genetics.
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