A grumpy dog is a smart dog
Dogs with “grumpy” characteristics are better than their cheerier peers at learning tricks from strangers, a new study suggests. The researchers didn’t categorize specific breeds as grumpy. Instead, they lumped in any of the dogs they studied that had a broad range of grumpy traits, such as being quick to bark, snapping or snarling when disturbed, and not coming when called. For the study, the researchers put a treat behind a V-shaped wire fence, so the dogs would have to move further away from the food to access it—counterintuitive behavior for canines, who just want to
charge straight ahead. “It’s quite a difficult task for a dog,” says study author Peter Pongracz, from Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest. Neither the short-tempered dogs nor the more agreeable pooches worked out how to reach the treat on their own, and learned equally well from their owners, reports The New York Times. But when a stranger demonstrated how to get the object, the grumpy dogs did noticeably better. “They were more attentive,” says Pongracz. It’s unclear what—if anything—is behind the link. But it suggests that dogs that are slow to warm to strangers may be good at learning from them.