Tokyo (AFP) - Dogs do not like people who are mean to their owners, Japanese researchers said Friday, and will refuse food offered by people who have snubbed their master. 
 
 The findings reveal that canines have the capacity to co-operate socially -- a characteristic found in a relatively small number of species, including humans and some other primates. 
 
 Researchers led by Kazuo Fujita, a professor of comparative cognition at Kyoto University, tested three groups of 18 dogs using role plays in which their owners needed to open a box. 
 
 In all three groups, the owner was accompanied by two people whom the dog did not know. 
 
 In the first group, the owner sought assistance from one of the other people, who actively refused to help. 
 
 In the second group, the owner asked for, and received, help from one person. In both groups, the third person was neutral and not involved in either helping or refusing to help. 
 
 View gallery Canines have the capacity to co-operate socially -- a characteristic found in a relatively small num … 
 
 Neither person interacted with the dog's owner in the control -- third -- group. 
 
 After watching the box-opening scene, the dog was offered food by the two unfamiliar people in the room. 
 
 Dogs that saw their owner being rebuffed were far more likely to choose food from the neutral observer, and to ignore the offer from the person who had refused to help, Fujita said. 
 
 Dogs whose owners were helped and dogs whose owners did not interact with either person showed no marked preference for accepting snacks from the strangers. 
 
 "We discovered for the first time that dogs make social and emotional evaluations of people regardless of their direct interest," Fujita said. 
 
 If the dogs were acting solely out of self-interest, there would be no differences among the groups, and a roughly equal number of animals would have accepted food from each person. 
 
 "This ability is one of key factors in building a highly collaborative society, and this study shows that dogs share that ability with humans," he said. 
 
 The trait is present in children from the age of about three, the research papers said. 
 
 Interestingly, noted Fujita, not all primates demonstrate this behaviour. 
 
 "There is a similar study that showed tufted capuchins (a monkey native to South America) have this ability, but there is no evidence that chimpanzees demonstrate a preference unless there is a direct benefit to them," he told AFP. 
 
 The study will appear in the science journal "Animal Behaviour" to be published later this month by Amsterdam-based Elsevier, he said. ||||| First published in 1953, Animal Behaviour is a leading international publication and has wide appeal, containing critical reviews, original papers, and research articles on all aspects of animal behaviour. Book Reviews and Books Received sections are also included. 
 
 First published in 1953, Animal Behaviour is a leading international publication and has wide appeal, containing critical reviews, original papers, and research articles on all aspects of animal behaviour. Book Reviews and Books Received sections are also included. 
 
 Growing interest in behavioural biology and the international reputation of Animal Behaviour prompted an expansion to monthly publication in 1989. Animal Behaviour continues to be the journal of choice for biologists, ethologists, psychologists, physiologists, and veterinarians with an interest in the subject. 
 
 Research Areas include: 
 
 • Behavioural ecology 
 
 • Evolution of behaviour 
 
 • Sociobiology 
 
 • Ethology 
 
 • Behavioural psychology 
 
 • Behavioural physiology 
 
 • Population biology 
 
 • Sensory behaviour 
 
 • Navigation and migration
– Your dog really may be your best friend, according to a new study out of Japan that highlights just how far canine loyalty can go. In a study to be published later this month in the journal Animal Behaviour, cognitive researchers at Kyoto University found that dogs will actually ignore people who snub their owners, even when food is being offered. It's a level of social cooperation seen so rarely in the animal kingdom that even among primates it's not exactly common, reports AFP. "This ability is one of [the] key factors in building a highly collaborative society, and this study shows that dogs share that ability with humans," lead researcher Kazuo Fujita said. The team tested three groups of 18 dogs—using breeds including golden retrievers and chihuahuas, and a range of ages, from seven months to 14 years, reports Quartz—who watched their owners try to open a box. Two strangers were always present. In the first group, the owner asked one stranger for help but was refused while the other remained neutral; in the second, the person being asked did help while the other remained neutral; and in the third control group, neither of the strangers interacted with the owner at all. Then in all instances, the strangers offered the dogs food. The dogs turned out to be willing to take food from anyone—except, of course, the strangers who refused to help with the box. Would your best friend have your back like that? (There's also evidence that dogs are cunning thieves.)