I recently attended the 2nd Canine Science Forum, held last month in Vienna. Apart from greatly enjoying my first time in that fabulous city, I found it very informative, and it provided lots of food for thought. Here I will provide a basic summary of the highlights.
The invited speakers all gave interesting talks. First up was David Parsons, who spoke about the decimation and re-introduction of the wolf population the US West. There is probably not a chunk of wildlife conservation land in one place big enough to fully support a healthy wolf population, so a new plan has emerged. There will be several wildlife conservation parks joined together by corridors of land, which will allow wolves to travel in relative safety throughout a broader territory.
Simon Gadbois gave a talk about how natural behaviour is compromised when using invasive methods in Canid research. I was giving a talk shortly thereafter, however, and I was so nervous that I couldn't really focus on his talk. Sorry Simon. I'm sure it was excellent.
Peter Savolainen gave further evidence to his hypothesis that dogs originated approximately 15,000 years ago, from a small population of wolves only in Southeast Asia. He has a huge database of dog DNA from all over the world, and the results all point to this hypothesis.
Pauleen Bennett stressed the importance of breeding dogs for temperament as well as beauty. The average dog in the Western world has but one job: companionship. Unlike in the past, when dogs were bred for particular behavioural traits that would lend themselves well to things like herding and hunting, dogs today are bred for the show ring without enough consideration for temperament. It is probably possible to have both, and many breeders do look for both. But, as a rule, the way we look at dog breeding should focus more on producing good pet dogs.
Daniel Mills explained a study in which vets in different parts of Europe were asked give a diagnosis of particular behavioural symptoms in dogs. Alarmingly, the diagnoses were not always the same between vets from different regions, and not always the same even between vets from the same region. Furthermore, drugs designed to alter negative behaviours (e.g. anti-depressants) may or may not be effective, depending on the hormonal 'source' of the problem. That is, a dog with separation anxiety that constantly barks when the owner is away, may be barking at: a. frustration at not having access to the owner, b. anxiety at being left alone, c. anger that the owner is gone (less likely), among others. All of these have different sources within the brain, so figuring out the underlying psychological mechanism can help vets prescribe the right medication to help.
Juliane Kaminski told us all that it was not helpful to take the debate over why dogs can understand human pointing gestures so well, all the way back to nature vs. nurture. She also discussed a study that she did with dogs, to see if they would 'tell' their owner where an item of no interest to the dog was located. This is based on studies of human infants. When an adult is interested in locating a hidden item that s/he needs, but is not interesting to the baby (such as a stapler or credit card), the baby will point at the item to help the adult locate it. There is no obvious reward for the baby doing this, because the baby doesn't want the object, but they still do it. Dogs, however, do not. They are entirely selfish! Based on a previous study, however, if an item that is of interest to the dog is hidden, it's another story [1]. Then they will shift their gaze from the owner to the location of the item.
The public talk was given by John Bradshaw. He discussed the fallacy of the domination theory in describing dog-human relationships and dog training. So there, Cesar Millan!
I will provide a summary of some of the interesting submitted talks at a later time. I think this blog post is long enough already.
Reference
1. Miklósi A., Polgárdi R., Topál J., Csányi V. 2000. Intentional behaviour in dog-human communication: an experimental analysis of "showing" behaviour in the dog. Animal Cognition. 3(3).
Monday, August 9, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Dog barks vary depending on context
Ray Coppinger once famously (within my circles anyway) wrote that dogs basically bark for no reason [1]. Prof. Coppinger is a man for whom I have the utmost respect; indeed, his book, Dogs: A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior, and Evolution, is one of the reasons why I'm in this field in the first place. Having said that, his assertion that dogs bark for the hell of it missed the mark, in my view. Recent studies out of Hungary have shown quite the contrary, in fact.
For instance, one study confirmed that humans, even 'non-doggy' ones, are able to correctly identify the emotional state of a dog based on the bark (aggressive, playful, happy, scared, or sad) [2]. Another study showed that we aren't quite so good at correctly identifying the individual dog barking, though. That depends a lot of the kind of bark that the dog is making [3].
A 2010 study by the same research group recorded dog growls in three different situations: during a play session, reacting to a threatening stranger, and guarding a bone from another dog. Then, different dogs were placed in a room with a dog cage that had speakers in it. A bone was sitting outside of the dog cage. When the dog approached the bone, a recording of one of the growls was played. Dogs were less likely to take the bone when they heard the "don't touch my bone" growl than when they heard the other growls [4]. This may mean that dogs are able to understand the context of the growls it hears from another dog.
Dogs don't bark for no reason; they are certainly saying something when they vocalize. However, it is possible that dogs sometimes bark just because other dogs are barking [5]. Anyone who lives in a suburban street with a dog in each backyard has probably experienced this phenomenon whenever the garbage men or mailmen come.
References
1. Coppinger, R., Feinstein, M, 1991. 'Hark! Hark! The dogs do bark...' and bark and bark (why dogs bark). Smithsonian, 21: 119-128.
2. Pongracz, P., Molnar, C., Miklosi, A., 2006. Acoustic parameters of dog barks carry emotional information for humans. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 100: 28-240.
3. Molnar, C., Pongracz, P., Doka, A., Miklosi, A., 2006. Can humans discriminate between dogs on the base of the acoustic parameters of barks? Behavioural Processes, 73: 76-83.
4. Farago, T., Pongracz, P., Range, F., Viranyi, Z., Miklosi, A., 2010. 'The bone is mine': affective and referential aspects of dog growls. Animal Behaviour, 79: 917-925.
5. Lord, K., Feinstein, M., Coppinger, R., 2009. Barking and mobbing. Behavioural Processes, 81: 358-368.
For instance, one study confirmed that humans, even 'non-doggy' ones, are able to correctly identify the emotional state of a dog based on the bark (aggressive, playful, happy, scared, or sad) [2]. Another study showed that we aren't quite so good at correctly identifying the individual dog barking, though. That depends a lot of the kind of bark that the dog is making [3].
A 2010 study by the same research group recorded dog growls in three different situations: during a play session, reacting to a threatening stranger, and guarding a bone from another dog. Then, different dogs were placed in a room with a dog cage that had speakers in it. A bone was sitting outside of the dog cage. When the dog approached the bone, a recording of one of the growls was played. Dogs were less likely to take the bone when they heard the "don't touch my bone" growl than when they heard the other growls [4]. This may mean that dogs are able to understand the context of the growls it hears from another dog.
Dogs don't bark for no reason; they are certainly saying something when they vocalize. However, it is possible that dogs sometimes bark just because other dogs are barking [5]. Anyone who lives in a suburban street with a dog in each backyard has probably experienced this phenomenon whenever the garbage men or mailmen come.
References
1. Coppinger, R., Feinstein, M, 1991. 'Hark! Hark! The dogs do bark...' and bark and bark (why dogs bark). Smithsonian, 21: 119-128.
2. Pongracz, P., Molnar, C., Miklosi, A., 2006. Acoustic parameters of dog barks carry emotional information for humans. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 100: 28-240.
3. Molnar, C., Pongracz, P., Doka, A., Miklosi, A., 2006. Can humans discriminate between dogs on the base of the acoustic parameters of barks? Behavioural Processes, 73: 76-83.
4. Farago, T., Pongracz, P., Range, F., Viranyi, Z., Miklosi, A., 2010. 'The bone is mine': affective and referential aspects of dog growls. Animal Behaviour, 79: 917-925.
5. Lord, K., Feinstein, M., Coppinger, R., 2009. Barking and mobbing. Behavioural Processes, 81: 358-368.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Dogs and yawning
Did you know that there's some evidence to suggest that dogs catch human yawns [1]? That may not sound very interesting, but it could have important implications and might even suggest that dogs experience empathy with humans. Many dogs owners (myself included) insist that our dogs know how we're feeling, and yawning contagion is considered to be related to empathy, at least among humans. For instance, people with autism are less likely to catch other peoples' yawns, and autism is believed to affect the ability to experience empathy.
The links aren't rock solid, though. First, do we really know why dogs yawn? Is it because they're tired or for some other reason, like confusion? I can imagine if I started making weird yawning faces in front of my dog, she might become confused! On the other hand, it looks as though we're only just getting a good handle on why people even yawn: http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20100511/ARTICLES/5111013/1018
Beyond that, another study suggests that dogs don't catch human yawns at all [2]. However, the methods were different than in the first study. While the first study had the humans yawning in the room with the dog, the second study just had video playback of the humans yawning. That could have affected the results.
Do dogs catch human yawns? Maybe. Does that mean they know how we're feeling? Not necessarily. Has the lack of scientific evidence ever changed the mind of a dog owner on this subject? Not a chance.
References
1. Joly-Mascheroni, R.M., Senju, A., Shepherd, A.J. (2008). Dogs catch human yawns. Biology Letters, 4 (5): 446-448.
2. Harr, A.L., Gilbert, V.A., Phillips, K.A. (2009). Do dogs (Canis familiaris) show contagious yawning? Animal Cognition, 12 (6): 833-837.
The links aren't rock solid, though. First, do we really know why dogs yawn? Is it because they're tired or for some other reason, like confusion? I can imagine if I started making weird yawning faces in front of my dog, she might become confused! On the other hand, it looks as though we're only just getting a good handle on why people even yawn: http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20100511/ARTICLES/5111013/1018
Beyond that, another study suggests that dogs don't catch human yawns at all [2]. However, the methods were different than in the first study. While the first study had the humans yawning in the room with the dog, the second study just had video playback of the humans yawning. That could have affected the results.
Do dogs catch human yawns? Maybe. Does that mean they know how we're feeling? Not necessarily. Has the lack of scientific evidence ever changed the mind of a dog owner on this subject? Not a chance.
References
1. Joly-Mascheroni, R.M., Senju, A., Shepherd, A.J. (2008). Dogs catch human yawns. Biology Letters, 4 (5): 446-448.
2. Harr, A.L., Gilbert, V.A., Phillips, K.A. (2009). Do dogs (Canis familiaris) show contagious yawning? Animal Cognition, 12 (6): 833-837.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
What's the difference between a dog and a wolf?
OK, so wolves and dogs don't really look alike, and the wolf has a bigger brain, and dogs are much better at worming their way onto the sofa. But they are genetically very similar. So what's going on?
Study one: morphological differences between wolves and dogs
You may have heard of this one; it's been getting a lot of press in the past few years. A group of Russian researchers back from 1959 tried to manipulate Silver Foxes to make them tamer. At a fox farm, they selected the foxes that were least fearful of the approach of the human hand. Over the course of several generations, lo and behold, the selected foxes were indeed tamer. But other changes started happening too. For instance, their ears drooped, their tails lifted, their coats changed color, they started barking, and they even started having two 'seasons' per year instead of one. Do these attributes sound familiar?
Study two: social cognitive differences between wolves and dogs
In a two-way object choice task, a dog or wolf subject had to choose a container baited with a treat out of a choice of two, based on pointing cues given by the experimenter. That is, there were two containers on the floor, and one had a treat inside. The experimenter pointed at the container with the treat, and the dog or wolf then made a choice of where to look for the treat. There was no deception here; the experimenter always pointed toward the baited container. The researchers examined the responses of dogs and extremely well-socialized wolves at the age of eight weeks, four months, and one year. The results were comparable at eight weeks and one year, but the dogs did better at four months old than the wolves. Throughout all of this, the dogs learned much more quickly and easily to make eye contact with the human carers and to generally be sweet. The wolves took much longer, but they did eventually learn to make eye contact and cooperate with the humans, and that could account for their similar performance at one year old.
So, can you turn a wolf into a dog by rearing it like a dog? No. Wolves raised like dogs are still different from dogs. But, they can still eventually learn to communicate with us, it just takes longer. It may be that the domestication process has given dogs the inclination to cooperate with us.
The subject of social cognition in the dog has a growing body of literature looking at the interplay between domestication and learning. I only cite one article on that topic here, but it's worth knowing that there's plenty of good reading on the subject if you're interested.
References
Belyaev, D., 1979. Destabilizing selection as a factor in domestication. Journal of Heredity, 70: 301-308.
Gacsi, M., Gyori, B., Viranyi, Z., Kubinyi, E., Range, F., Belenyi, B., Miklosi, A., 2009. Explaining dog wolf differences in utilizing human pointing gestures: selection for synergistic shifts in the development of some social skills. PlosONE, 4: e6584.
Study one: morphological differences between wolves and dogs
You may have heard of this one; it's been getting a lot of press in the past few years. A group of Russian researchers back from 1959 tried to manipulate Silver Foxes to make them tamer. At a fox farm, they selected the foxes that were least fearful of the approach of the human hand. Over the course of several generations, lo and behold, the selected foxes were indeed tamer. But other changes started happening too. For instance, their ears drooped, their tails lifted, their coats changed color, they started barking, and they even started having two 'seasons' per year instead of one. Do these attributes sound familiar?
Study two: social cognitive differences between wolves and dogs
In a two-way object choice task, a dog or wolf subject had to choose a container baited with a treat out of a choice of two, based on pointing cues given by the experimenter. That is, there were two containers on the floor, and one had a treat inside. The experimenter pointed at the container with the treat, and the dog or wolf then made a choice of where to look for the treat. There was no deception here; the experimenter always pointed toward the baited container. The researchers examined the responses of dogs and extremely well-socialized wolves at the age of eight weeks, four months, and one year. The results were comparable at eight weeks and one year, but the dogs did better at four months old than the wolves. Throughout all of this, the dogs learned much more quickly and easily to make eye contact with the human carers and to generally be sweet. The wolves took much longer, but they did eventually learn to make eye contact and cooperate with the humans, and that could account for their similar performance at one year old.
So, can you turn a wolf into a dog by rearing it like a dog? No. Wolves raised like dogs are still different from dogs. But, they can still eventually learn to communicate with us, it just takes longer. It may be that the domestication process has given dogs the inclination to cooperate with us.
The subject of social cognition in the dog has a growing body of literature looking at the interplay between domestication and learning. I only cite one article on that topic here, but it's worth knowing that there's plenty of good reading on the subject if you're interested.
References
Belyaev, D., 1979. Destabilizing selection as a factor in domestication. Journal of Heredity, 70: 301-308.
Gacsi, M., Gyori, B., Viranyi, Z., Kubinyi, E., Range, F., Belenyi, B., Miklosi, A., 2009. Explaining dog wolf differences in utilizing human pointing gestures: selection for synergistic shifts in the development of some social skills. PlosONE, 4: e6584.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Incentive Contrast in dogs: Or, dogs get really used to having good treats
I just read an article from a research group in Argentina that looked at dogs' reactions to Successive Negative Contrast. This fancy word basically means that if animals (usually mammals) are consistently given a very high-value treat and then suddenly switched to a lower-value treat, they get annoyed about it.
In dogs, it played out this way: some dogs were consistently given beef liver treats by experimenters, and other dogs were given beef liver treats at first and then switched to the dog's usual meal-time kibble. The dogs that were switched to the kibble were more likely to refuse to eat this lower-value treat, and they also were less likely to engage the experimenter either by making eye contact or approaching him/her. So, the dogs flatly refused to eat food that they ordinarily ate with no complaints, all because they had become accustomed to getting a much better treat.
So, there you have it, if you try to shortchange a dog, it'll get angry. Something to keep in mind when people are training their dogs using food rewards. Make sure that the 'jackpot' treats are used only on special occasions, and also be sure that you don't start out using the Best Food Ever during training, because the result may be a less-than-cooperative dog if you have to switch to a lesser treat.
Reference
Bentosela, M., Jakovcevic, A., Elgier, A., Mustaca, A., and Papini, M., 2009. Incentive contrast in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 123: 125-130.
In dogs, it played out this way: some dogs were consistently given beef liver treats by experimenters, and other dogs were given beef liver treats at first and then switched to the dog's usual meal-time kibble. The dogs that were switched to the kibble were more likely to refuse to eat this lower-value treat, and they also were less likely to engage the experimenter either by making eye contact or approaching him/her. So, the dogs flatly refused to eat food that they ordinarily ate with no complaints, all because they had become accustomed to getting a much better treat.
So, there you have it, if you try to shortchange a dog, it'll get angry. Something to keep in mind when people are training their dogs using food rewards. Make sure that the 'jackpot' treats are used only on special occasions, and also be sure that you don't start out using the Best Food Ever during training, because the result may be a less-than-cooperative dog if you have to switch to a lesser treat.
Reference
Bentosela, M., Jakovcevic, A., Elgier, A., Mustaca, A., and Papini, M., 2009. Incentive contrast in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 123: 125-130.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
What's this blog about?
I am doing PhD research into dog cognition, and this blog will give details about the latest news coming out of this field. There is some interesting and insightful work happening in this area, but many dog owners will not be very surprised with the findings.
Email me at dogresearcher@gmail.com
Email me at dogresearcher@gmail.com
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