Dogs react like human infants when helping to find things, while cats are uncooperative.
Dogs often cooperate with humans, and will frequently rush over to help when you're looking for something you've lost. Studies investigating this behavior have revealed that dogs exhibit reactions similar to those of humans around two years old.
Dogs' behavior is more similar to that of children than to that of cats in a prosocial problem situation - ScienceDirect
Dogs are more like toddlers than cats when it comes to helping humans
Comparative animal behaviorist Melitta Chepregi and her colleagues conducted a study comparing the behavior of untrained pet dogs, pet cats, and infants aged 16 to 24 months to investigate whether animals exhibit 'spontaneous prosocial behavior'—helping others even when there is no benefit to themselves.
The experiment designed by Chepregi was simple: hide an object in front of dogs, cats, or toddlers, and then observe their reaction when their parents or owners searched for it. In this experiment, the parents or owners were instructed not to ask the subjects for help.
Previous studies had confirmed that infants aged 16-24 months are capable of helping others. Chepregi et al.'s experiment yielded similar results to those of previous studies, and also found that dogs exhibited similar behavioral patterns to infants.
The dogs showed a proactive attitude towards the situation, exhibiting behavioral patterns of approaching objects or searching for and retrieving them in over 75% of cases. This behavioral pattern was similar whether the object being searched was a favorite of the dogs or not, indicating a strong motivation to help others even when the object was unrelated to them.
On the other hand, cats were found to be far less likely to exhibit these behaviors, and while they may have paid attention to the situation itself, they were rarely willing to help. The exception was when the hidden object was their favorite treat or toy.
Chepregi and his colleagues explained, 'Dogs evolved from highly social ancestors and have been shaped by thousands of years of interaction with humans. Cats, on the other hand, have solitary ancestors and domesticated themselves by settling near human communities. Unlike dogs, they have not evolved to cooperate with humans. Cats tend to choose observation over action when there is no reason to intervene, but this does not mean that cats are mean; it simply means that they are more independent and less dependent on humans compared to dogs.'
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