Dogs have long been known as 'man's best friend'. They are the only animal on the planet that loves you more than they love themselves.
Now, a new paper published in Scientific Reports claims that there may be a genetic reason why dogs love us so much. They have proposed the idea that dogs may have a predisposition to crave human companionship.
According to Mental Floss, five researchers at Linköping University in Sweden headed up a study to find out the extent of human and dog companionship.
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They got hold of 437 laboratory-raised beagles and set them a challenge. There were three dishes on the floor, and in each was a treat. To obtain the treat, the dogs had to figure out how to slide the cover off the container. Seems simple enough, right? Well, the final dish was covered with a lid that wouldn't move. Mean.
In the corner of the room sat a researcher. However, they were not looking at the dog while they completed the challenge. When it came to the final (impossible) treat, a large percentage of the dogs looked to the human for help.
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After the testing, the researchers reviewed the footage taken, and identified the 95 most sociable dogs and the 95 least.
They then sequenced their genomes (I haven't got a bloody clue what that means, but it sounds scientific) and they figured out that the most sociable dogs showed activation in two very specific genomic (there you go again) regions.
Mental Floss explained that: "The presence of a single marker on the 26th chromosome of the SEZ6L gene was a significant indication that a beagle would have spent more time near and physically touching the researcher during the test. Another two markers on chromosome 26 of the ARVCF gene were strongly associated with seeking out human contact."
The authors of the paper summarised it by saying: "This is, to our knowledge, the first genome-wide study presenting candidate genomic regions for dog sociability and inter-species communication."
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Although there is still research to be done, they added: "These results contribute to a greater insight into the genetic basis of dog-human communicative behaviours and sociability, increasing our understanding of the domestication process, and could potentially aid knowledge relating to human social behavioural disorders."
So there you go, after a lot of science, the conclusion is that dogs are great.
Featured image credit: PA Images
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Animals, Dogs, awesome