Dogs might actually be a lot smarter than we are giving them credit for.

Dogs are good at picking up a lot of things, especially when it comes to human behavior. Back in 2015, research team led by Akiko Takaoka of Kyoto University in Japan conducted a study which found that dogs actually know if a person is to be trusted or not. The study involved tricking dogs. Building on top of the fact that when a human points to an object, the dog will run to it, the researchers conducted an experiment where they pointed at a container that was filled with hidden food. The dog would run towards the container. Then, they pointed at a container that was empty and still, the dogs ran towards it, but found that it had no food.

Researchers then pointed at a container with food, but the dogs refused to go to the container. This was based on the theory that the dogs knew the person pointing wasn’t reliable based off their previous experience.

With 34 dogs partaking in the experiment, every single one of them would not go towards the container the third time. This experiment either proves that dogs can spot a liar or that dogs can develop trust issues.