Glossary

Pointing comprehension

A dog's ability to follow a human finger point to find hidden food, a skill researchers study to learn how dogs read people.

Also called: following a point, human pointing gesture, understanding pointing, point following

In pointing tests, a person points at one of two covered bowls, and the dog is rewarded for going to the right one. Most dogs perform well, including young puppies and those with little training. Researchers such as Brian Hare and Michael Tomasello have used this to argue that dogs have a special sensitivity to human gestures, possibly linked to domestication. Studies of hand-raised wolves have given mixed results, so how special dogs are is still debated. Some scientists suggest that simple tendencies to approach hands and learn from rewards could explain part of it.

It tells us that dogs pay attention to human signals, though not that they understand pointing as we do. Many dogs also follow a person's gaze or head turn.

Last reviewed November 8, 2026

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Related terms

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