Journal
ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
Volume 82, Issue 5, Pages 1043-1050Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.07.039
Keywords
breed difference; Canis lupus familiaris; development; dog; gaze; human-directed communication
Categories
Funding
- PRIN
- Hungariane-Italian exchange (Hungarian Research Fund) [T049615]
- University of Milan
- University of Parma
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Recent evidence indicates that dogs' sociocognitive abilities and behaviour in a test situation are shaped by both genetic factors and life experiences. We used the 'unsolvable task' paradigm to investigate the effect of breed and age/experience on the use of human-directed gazing behaviour. Following a genetic classification based on recent genome analyses, dogs were allocated to three breed groups, namely Primitive, Hunting/Herding and Molossoid. Furthermore, we tested dogs at 2 months, 4.5 months and as adults. The test consisted of three solvable trials in which dogs could obtain food by manipulating a plastic container followed by an unsolvable trial in which obtaining the food became impossible. The dogs' behaviour towards the apparatus and the people present was analysed. At 2 months no breed group differences emerged and although human-directed gazing behaviour was observed in approximately half of the pups, it occurred for brief periods, suggesting that the aptitude to use human-directed gazing as a request for obtaining help probably develops at a later date when dogs have had more experience with human communication. Breed group differences, however, did emerge strongly in adult dogs and, although less pronounced, also in 4.5-month-old subjects, with dogs in the Hunting/Herding group showing significantly more human-directed gazing behaviour than dogs in the other two breed groups. These results suggest that, although the domestication process may have shaped the dog's human-directed communicative abilities, the later selection for specific types of work might also have had a significant impact on their emergence. (C) 2011 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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