A domestic dog bred for companionship and many kinds of work. Its appearance varies greatly among breeds.
Size, body shape and coat differ among breeds, reflecting selection for tasks such as herding and hunting.
Researchers at 20 sites tested how dogs responded to human pointing, with data from 455 dogs. In a two-cup choice task, one cup held food and a person pointed toward it while researchers recorded which cup each dog chose.
In one condition, the person made eye contact, said the dog’s name, and then pointed to the baited cup. In the other, the person made a throat-clearing sound and pointed without eye contact. The researchers asked whether dogs treated pointing as communication from a person or used an association between the gesture and food.
Dogs chose correctly above chance in both conditions, with no significant difference between them. Fewer dogs followed brief, contralateral pointing than had been reported in earlier studies. The team reported that the form of the point and the testing procedure matter for dogs’ responses.
IUCN Red List · Not applicable (domesticated taxa are excluded) · Global
The IUCN Red List guidelines exclude domesticated taxa from assessment, so the domestic dog has no global extinction-risk category. A separate IUCN analysis of threats recorded in the 2016.3 Red List lists domestic dogs as an invasive alien species affecting 13 species classified as Extinct or Extinct in the Wild and 149 threatened species. These are recorded impacts on wildlife.