Biologists have figured out which dogs respond to the howling of wolves

Zoologists at the University of Budapest figured outwhich breeds of dogs are more likely to respond to the howling of wolves.

Wolves are the wild ancestors of modern dogs. And despite the fact that dogs have changed a lot in appearance, and some breeds are not at all like their ancestors, dogs and wolves are united by a common past. Moreover, some dogs howl like wolves.

Howling for wolves is the main way of communicating with each other, while for dogs, barking is the main means of communication. To find out how dogs react to howling, the researchers selected 68 different pets and played recordings of howling wolves to them, then observed their reactions.

As it turned out, the so-called “ancient breeds” of dogs, which have much in common with wolves, more often than other dogs react to wolf howls with their howls. Meanwhile, the dogs of the thicket, more distant from the wolves, were babbling, barking and barking when they heard the vocalizations of the wolves.

Scientists explained this by the fact that modern breeds, despite the physical ability to reproduce howling, do not use it because of changed social attitudes.

The researchers believe that “ancient breeds” of dogs are better able to parse the information that wolves “encode” in their howls. It is noteworthy that castrated dogs most often responded with a howl. Probably, their response howl could mean that they are afraid to meet representatives of their kind, which they are warned about.