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Dogs possess skills similar to those of a five-month-old baby, researchers have revealed.

As a baby's brain develops they they learn to notice the actions of people. Until now, this had been thought to be a trait exclusive to humans and nonhuman primates.

The results are important because they show that dogs, like children, can recognise goal-directed behaviour.

Research led by Dr Sarah Marshall-Pescini of Milan University says dogs show a similar ability to five month-old infants. In an experiment they were placed in a room with a person and two objects (shown)

This means they know where to look and how to respond to people when it seems like something important might happen - which is also what infants learn to do.

In the Milan University study the authors tried a test used on five month-old babies on dogs, and found the animals could perform it as well as children.  

In the test 50 pet dogs were placed in a room with a researcher and their response to an experiment was recorded.

In the experiment the domestic dogs were shown a human interacting with two objects, a globe and watering can.

First, the dogs watched as the person interacted with the globe.

Then, when the position of the globe and watering can were switched, the dogs again watched the person and the globe in the new location.

When the person then switched to interacting with the watering can, however, the dogs' attention also shifted to the watering can.

Like children, the dogs spent more time watching the human to whom they were used to watching in the experiment, rather than watching the spot they were watching at first.

When an inanimate object was used with the two objects, the same response was noted.

And in a third experiment, dogs looked longer at the person interacting with the new object in the familiar location rather than the familiar object in a new location. 

'Results provide the first evidence that a non-primate species can perceive another individual's actions as goal-directed,' the researchers write in their paper.

The dog was acclimatised to one partilcular object in one location. When the person interacted with the object but changed location (shown) the dog responded more to them, rather than a new object in the old location

When the person interacted with a new object in the old location, the dog played close attention. This suggests dogs are able to recognise 'goal-directed' behavior, an ability that only primates were thought to possess