Dogs

Introduction

The study investigates the cooperative behavior of dogs and their ability to account for human partner actions in a task requiring coordination.
Authors: Mayte Martínez, Lauren M. Robinson, Sarah F. Brosnan, and Friederike Range.
Publication: Royal Society Proceedings B, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.2189.

Cooperative Interactions: Defined as two or more individuals working together toward a common goal, these behaviors are widespread among animals.
Human Cooperation: Humans uniquely understand their partner's contributions, which allows flexible cooperation.
Animal Studies: Previous studies indicate that some non-human species can recognize the need for a partner but may lack an understanding of cooperative dynamics.

To explore whether dogs not only recognize the presence of a cooperatively acting human partner but also take note of their actions during tasks.
This research addresses gaps in understanding how species, particularly dogs, assess their partner's role in cooperation.

Dogs were trained to press a button simultaneously with their human partners.
Several conditions were introduced to discern which factors impacted the dogs' task performance:
- Delayed Partner (DP) Condition: Dogs had to wait for their partner to move closer before pressing the button.
- Delayed Button (DB) Condition: Dogs could only succeed when both buttons were visible, and they pressed after waiting.
- Delayed Action (DA) Condition: Dogs had to press the button depending on the partner's pressing behavior.
- Non-Visibility (NV) Condition: This assessed the success by chance, where dogs could neither see nor hear their partner.

Subjects: 21 family pet dogs of various breeds (average age: 4.82 years) participated in the study.
Inhibitory Control Measurement: Dogs' inhibitory control was assessed through an owner-completed questionnaire (DIAS) and a box test demonstrating their ability to resist impulsive actions.

General Findings:
- Dogs demonstrated significant ability in DB, DP, and DA conditions, contrasting with lower performance in NV conditions, indicating that they were coordinating and paying attention to their partners’ actions.
- In trials where dogs were visually connected to their partners, 84.2% of dogs pressed the button, indicating a strong inclination to coordinate.
Impact of Delay: A longer delay negatively impacted the dogs' success, underlining the relevance of timing in cooperative tasks.

Surprisingly, measures of inhibitory control did not correlate with the dogs' performance in the button-pressing task, suggesting other cognitive factors influenced their cooperation.

The findings support the notion that dogs can actively coordinate actions with their human partners, indicating a sophisticated understanding of teamwork.
Comparisons with Other Species: Similar behaviors are observed in species known for cooperation, such as capuchin monkeys and dolphins, suggesting a potential evolutionary basis for these abilities.
Training Influence: The nature of training likely shaped their ability to gauge actions necessary for success, further increasing the necessity for hands-on strategies.

Research should explore whether these findings extend to dogs interacting with conspecifics or unfamiliar humans.
Investigating how domestication and life experiences shape the cooperative skills of dogs can inform broader questions about animal cognition and partnership dynamics.

The study was approved by the Ethics and Animal Welfare Committee of the University of Veterinary Medicine.
Data used for the analyses can be found in supplementary materials associated with the publication.

This study highlights that dogs possess an understanding of not only their role but also the role of their human partners in coordinated tasks, further enriching the comprehension of animal cooperation and social dynamics.