Lieta Marinelli

Abstract Dogs are an ideal species to investigate phylogenetic and ontogenetic factors contributing to face recognition. Previous research has found that dogs can recognise their owner using visual information about the person’s face, presented live. However, a thorough investigation of face processing mechanisms requires the use of graphical representations and it currently remains unclear whether dogs are able to spontaneously recognise human faces in photographs.

In Europe, assistance dogs such as guide dogs have been used for several centuries and the first officially recorded assistance dog training schools were founded in Germany after the first World War [ 9 ]. Compared to guide dogs, the other types of assistance dogs have evolved rather recently [ 3 ].

Publication HistoryPublished online: May 09, 2018Accepted: May 6, 2018; Received in revised form: April 26, 2018; Received: February 5, 2018;