A Canterbury University student has found that dogs have the ability to second guess what humans are thinking.

Psychology student Michelle Maginnity carried out a range of experiments to test whether 16 dogs could tell if humans knew where food was hidden.

The dogs were placed in a room with two people with a screen placed between them and the dog. The food was hidden in one of four containers behind the screen by one of the people.

The dog was able to see who hid the food, but not where it was hidden.

When the screen was moved, both people would point at a container.

\"In a majority of cases, the dogs would show a preference for the person who knew and go to the container they were pointing at,\" Maginnity said.

The dogs were prevented from sniffing the food out because all the containers had food in them to cover the smell. The dogs would identify the correct container by going and placing its nose over it.

\"All of the dogs did 24 trials,\" Maginnity said.

\"There were between 62 and 70 per cent responses to the right person.

\"What this showed was that the dogs were able to take the perspective of the humans involved and attribute states of knowledge to these people.\"

Maginnity believes this may show dogs have the ability to draw conclusions from what they observe.

\"They have evolved alongside humans and so their behaviour had to change to fit that,\" Maginnity said.

\"Those that were able to interpret human social cues would be better off than others.\"

Maginnity admits she only keeps cats, but is keen to get a dog after carrying out her research.

\"People in the department were surprised at the ability the dogs exhibited.\"

Peter Burtenshaw, secretary of the Christchurch Dog Training Club, said the news came as no surprise. \"Most dog owners will tell you their dogs can work things out for themselves, given the opportunity and encouraged in the right way.\"