Power-laws in dog behavior may pave the way to predictive models: A pattern analysis study.

Apparently random events in nature often reveal hidden patterns when analyzed using diverse and robust statistical tools. Power law distributions, for example, project diverse natural phenomenon, ranging from earthquakes to heartbeat dynamics into a common platform of self-similarity. Animal behavior in specific contexts has been shown to follow power law distributions.

Free-ranging dogs show age related plasticity in their ability to follow human pointing.

Differences in pet dogs' and captive wolves' ability to follow human communicative intents have led to the proposition of several hypotheses regarding the possession and development of social cognitive skills in dogs. It is possible that the social cognitive abilities of pet dogs are induced by indirect conditioning through living with humans, and studying free-ranging dogs can provide deeper insights into differentiating between innate abilities and conditioning in dogs. Free-ranging dogs are mostly scavengers, indirectly depending on humans for their sustenance.