A study that was done recently suggests that dogs have the potential to be optimistic or pessimistic. Well, I say it’s a little far-fetched but I’ll explain the experiment and you can decide for yourself!
In the study, dogs were trained to hit a button after hearing a tone. Upon doing so, they would be rewarded with a drink. There were two different tones. After one tone, they would receive water, but after the other tone, they would receive a treat – milk. Then, they switched it up on the dogs. They played a tone in-between the other two.
This is where researchers claim the separation between the half-full and half-empty dogs came. They say that the “optimistic” dogs kept hitting the button in hopes of eventually getting a reward. However, the “pessimistic” dogs got frustrated when no reward came and gave up hitting the button.
Does this show hope in dogs or does it just so dogs who easily memorize a motion and therefore keep repeating it? It can go either way! But think about it this way, your dog could be an Eeyore!
