Your dog will remember where you have hidden food and study finds

Their powerful noses are notorious for sniffing out delicacies.

But dogs are more likely to find food if they see it hidden by a person, rather than relying on smell alone, research suggests.

A team from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna conducted a study with eight dogs.

They tested each animal’s ability to find up to eight food supplies – after seeing a human hiding or without the dog witnessing the hiding.

The scientists found that dogs found more food supplies – and faster, with less distance between each – if they had seen that the food was hidden.

This suggests they weren’t just using smell to find the food, the team said.

And it provides support for the idea that dogs are capable of observational spatial memory – the ability to remember where another individual has hidden food and steal it.

The researchers conducted the same study with wolves – the wild ancestor of modern dogs – with similar results.

They said: ‘Although domestication likely influenced dogs’ willingness to adapt to humans, the results of the current study work with previous findings suggesting that cognitive skills do not differ much between dogs and wolves.’

Separate research has found that dogs can remember the location of a food item the day after it was hidden.

And while many dog ​​owners like to treat their pets to a tasty snack, vets estimate that almost half of dogs in Britain are now overweight.

The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals’ 2023 welfare report shows that a third of dog owners don’t know how much their pet weighs, and 44 percent don’t know how much it should ideally weigh.

Vets have warned that treats should only make up 10 percent of dogs’ daily calories.

The findings of the current study have been published in the journal Plos One.