Breed differences in dogs’ (Canis familiaris) gaze to the human face

Adriana Jakovcevic, Angel M. Elgier, Alba E. Mustaca, Mariana Bentosela

Breed differences in dogs’ (Canis familiaris) gaze to the human face

Behavioural Processes, Volume 84, Issue 2, June 2010, Pages 602–607

Abstract

Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) have been submitted to a vast process of artificial selection and to date, there are hundreds of breeds that differ in their physical and behavioral features. In addition, dogs possess important skills to communicate with humans. Previous evidence indicates that those abilities are related to the domestication process and are modulated by instrumental learning processes. Very few studies, however, have evaluated breed differences in the use and learning of interspecific communicative responses. In Study 1 Retrievers, German Shepherds and Poodles were compared in the acquisition and extinction of their gaze toward the human face, in a conflict situation involving food within sight but out of reach. The groups did not differ in the acquisition of the response, but throughout the extinction phase Retrievers gazed to the human significantly more than the other groups. In Study 2, similar results were obtained in a test without any previous explicit training. These results suggest that these three major popular breeds differ in gazing to humans in a communicative situation.

Understanding of human communicative motives in domestic dogs

Helene Pettersson, Juliane Kaminski, Esther Herrmann, Michael Tomasello

Understanding of human communicative motives in domestic dogs

Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Volume 133, Issues 3–4, September 2011, Pages 235–245

Abstract

Chimpanzees find it easier to locate food when a human prohibits them from going to a certain location than when she indicates that location helpfully. Human children, in contrast, use the cooperative gesture more readily. The question here was whether domestic dogs are more like chimpanzees, in this regard, or more like human children. In our first study we presented 40 dogs with two communicative contexts. In the cooperative context the experimenter informed the subject where food was hidden by pointing helpfully (with a cooperative tone of voice). In the competitive context the experimenter extended her arm towards the correct location in a prohibitive manner, palm of hand out (uttering a forbidding command in a prohibitive tone of voice). Dogs were successful in the cooperative condition (P = 0.005) but chose randomly in the competitive condition (P = 0.221). The second study independently varied the two characteristics of the communicative gesture (the gesture itself and the tone of voice). In addition to replicating dogs’ better performance with the cooperative gestures, this study suggests that tone of voice and context had more effect than type of gesture. In the context of food acquisition, domestic dogs, like human children, seem more prepared to use human gestures when they are given cooperatively.

Size communication in domestic dog, Canis familiaris, growls

A.M. Taylor, D. Reby, K. McComb

Size communication in domestic dog, Canis familiaris, growls

Animal Behaviour, Volume 79, Issue 1, January 2010, Pages 205–210

Abstract

In many species, body size is a key determinant of the outcome of agonistic interactions, and receivers are expected to attend to size cues when assessing competitors' signals. Several mammal vocalizations, including domestic dog growls, encode reliable information about caller body size in the dispersion of formant frequencies. To test whether adult domestic dogs attend to formant dispersion when presented with the growls of their conspecifics, we played recordings of resynthesized growls where the size-related variation in formant frequency spacing was manipulated independently of all other parameters. Subjects from three different size groups (small, medium and large dogs) were presented with playbacks of growls where formant frequencies had been rescaled to correspond to a dog 30% smaller or 30% larger than themselves. While large dogs systematically displayed more motivation to interact when growls simulated a smaller intruder, small dogs did not respond differentially to the playback conditions. However, the small dogs responded significantly less than all other size groups to both playback conditions. Our results suggest that domestic dogs are able to perceive size-related information in growls, and more specifically that they are able to adapt their behavioural response as a function of the perceived intruder's size relative to their own.

Clever hounds: social cognition in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris)

Jonathan J Cooper, Clare Ashton, Sarah Bishop, Rebecca West, Daniel S Mills, Robert J Young

Clever hounds: social cognition in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris)

Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Volume 81, Issue 3, 2 May 2003, Pages 229–244

Abstract

This paper reviews the reasons why domestic dogs make good models to investigate cognitive processes related to social living and describes experimental approaches that can be adopted to investigate such processes in dogs. Domestic dogs are suitable models for investigating social cognition skills for three broad reasons. First, dogs originated from wolves, social animals that engage in a number of co-operative behaviours, such as hunting and that may have evolved cognitive abilities that help them predict and interpret the actions of other animals. Second, during domestication dogs are likely to have been selected for mental adaptations for their roles in human society such as herding or companionship. Third, domestic dogs live in a human world and “enculturation” may facilitate the development of relevant mental skills in dogs. Studies of social cognition in animals commonly use experimental paradigms originally developed for pre-verbal human infants. Preferential gaze, for example, can be used as a measure of attention or “surprise” in studies using expectancy violation. This approach has been used to demonstrate simple numerical competence in dogs. Dogs also readily use both conspecific and human social signals (e.g. looking or pointing) as information sources to locate hidden rewards such as food or favourite toys. Such abilities make dogs particularly good models for investigating perspective-taking tasks, where animals are required to discriminate between apparently knowledgeable and apparently ignorant informants.

Breed differences in dogs sensitivity to human points: A meta-analysis

Nicole R. Dorey, Monique A.R. Udell, Clive D.L. Wynne

Breed differences in dogs sensitivity to human points: A meta-analysis

Behavioural Processes, Volume 81, Issue 3, July 2009, Pages 409–415

Abstract

The last decade has seen a substantial increase in research on the behavioral and cognitive abilities of pet dogs, Canis familiaris. The most commonly used experimental paradigm is the object-choice task in which a dog is given a choice of two containers and guided to the reinforced object by human pointing gestures. We review here studies of this type and attempt a meta-analysis of the available data. In the meta-analysis breeds of dogs were grouped into the eight categories of the American Kennel Club, and into four clusters identified by Parker and Ostrander [Parker, H.G., Ostrander, E.A., 2005. Canine genomics and genetics: running with the pack. PLoS Genet. 1, 507–513] on the basis of a genetic analysis. No differences in performance between breeds categorized in either fashion were identified. Rather, all dog breeds appear to be similarly and highly successful in following human points to locate desired food. We suggest this result could be due to the paucity of data available in published studies, and the restricted range of breeds tested.

The performance of stray dogs (Canis familiaris) living in a shelter on human-guided object-choice tasks

Monique A.R. Udell, Nicole R. Dorey, Clive D.L. Wynne

The performance of stray dogs (Canis familiaris) living in a shelter on human-guided object-choice tasks

Animal Behaviour, Volume 79, Issue 3, March 2010, Pages 717–725

Abstract
A decade of research on domestic dogs' responsiveness to human actions has led some to believe that all members of the species Canis familiaris possess a human-like social cognition not shared by their nondomesticated relatives. However, comparative studies on diverse populations of domestic dog are lacking, making species-wide generalizations premature. In this study we present the performance of one under-represented population, stray dogs living in shelters, on a human-guided object-choice task. Unlike pet dogs, shelter dogs universally failed to follow a momentary distal point to a target location in initial tests, although they were able to follow a simpler form of human point on the same task. Furthermore, the majority of subjects learned to follow a momentary distal point to a target when given additional training trials (experiment 2). Dogs' sensitivity to human gestures may not be entirely explained by phylogenetic variables; rather, the interactions between genetic, developmental and experiential variables must be considered.

Understanding of human communicative motives in domestic dogs

Helene Pettersson, Juliane Kaminski, Esther Herrmann, Michael Tomasello

Understanding of human communicative motives in domestic dogs

Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Volume 133, Issues 3–4, September 2011, Pages 235–245

Abstract

Chimpanzees find it easier to locate food when a human prohibits them from going to a certain location than when she indicates that location helpfully. Human children, in contrast, use the cooperative gesture more readily. The question here was whether domestic dogs are more like chimpanzees, in this regard, or more like human children. In our first study we presented 40 dogs with two communicative contexts. In the cooperative context the experimenter informed the subject where food was hidden by pointing helpfully (with a cooperative tone of voice). In the competitive context the experimenter extended her arm towards the correct location in a prohibitive manner, palm of hand out (uttering a forbidding command in a prohibitive tone of voice). Dogs were successful in the cooperative condition (P = 0.005) but chose randomly in the competitive condition (P = 0.221). The second study independently varied the two characteristics of the communicative gesture (the gesture itself and the tone of voice). In addition to replicating dogs’ better performance with the cooperative gestures, this study suggests that tone of voice and context had more effect than type of gesture. In the context of food acquisition, domestic dogs, like human children, seem more prepared to use human gestures when they are given cooperatively.