One’s personal preference for either species probably influences the answer anyone may select, but Texas A & M Animal Behaviorist and veterinary professor Dr. Bonnie Beaver says realistically there is no way to know. “They’re both as smart as they need to be for the environment in which they live,” she tells KTRH News. It’s not like you can give them an IQ test.
A British study published in Animal Cognition examines dog behaviors and attempts to decipher what they are attempting to articulate through body language. It isn’t that we’ve taught them how to communicate to us, it’s that they’ve taught us. “Actually they teach us that you’re going to respond in the way I can get you to respond.” If you have or have ever had a dog the gestures should be familiar to you. As detailed in a Fox News report:
FEED ME:
— Using its snout and head to move your hand on to its body
— Holding one paw in the air while sitting
— Turning its head from side-to-side, looking between a human and another object
— Standing on its hind legs
— Using its mouth to throw a toy forwards
SCRATCH ME:
— Rolling over in front of you
— Pressing its nose against you or another object
— Licking you or an object
— Lifting a paw and placing it on you
— Gently biting your arm
— Short shuffles along the ground while rolling over
— Lifting a back leg while laying on its side
— Rubbing its head against you while leaning against you
PLAY WITH ME:
— Briefly touching a person with a single paw
— Diving headfirst under a person or object
— Reaching a paw towards an object of interest
— Wiggling its body underneath a person or object
OPEN THE DOOR FOR ME:
— Lifting both paws off the ground and placing them on its owner or a nearby object
— Jumping up and down, either on to an object or not, while in the same location.