Some dogs actually prefer praise to treats according to a new study. Researchers‚ led by Peter Cook of Emory University‚ wanted to understand the neural mechanisms that drive dog-human social interactions.To do this they used functional magnetic resonance imaging on 15 dogs while they were awake – measuring what their brains did when they gave them a treat‚ praise or nothing.What they found in their first experiment surprised them – 13 out of 15 dogs were as happy‚ if not happier‚ with getting praise rather than food.They then performed a second experiment – where they withheld praise‚ and a third experiment where they gave the dog a choice between food or their owner in a Y maze.What they found was that many of the same dogs that preferred praise to treats‚ also consistently went to their owners.This has implications for what tasks one can train a dog to do.In medical situations where you have dogs present for therapeutic reasons‚ those that prefer praise may well be more suitable‚ while those that prefer treats might work better in tasks like search and rescue – where treats are more traditional than belly rubs...