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Gazing as a help requesting behavior: a comparison of dogs participating in animal-assisted interventions and pet dogs

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Abstract

Dogs tend to gaze at humans when they are confronted with inaccessible food during an unsolvable task, which is often interpreted as a help requesting behavior. Dogs who participate in animal-assisted interventions (AAI) interact with many people during their lives and prior studies have emphasized the importance of gazing in their communication. We compared the behavior of AAI (n = 15) and pet (n = 16) dogs during an unsolvable task, using a container fixed to a wooden board with inaccessible food inside, while the owner and an unfamiliar woman stood facing each other at the sides of the board ignoring the dog. Results showed that AAI dogs spent significantly more time gazing and alternated their gaze more frequently between the container and the people than pet dogs. In addition, they spent more time in contact with the unfamiliar person. However, no significant differences were found in the time dogs of either group gazed towards the owner compared to the unfamiliar person, in the frequency of gaze alternation or in the time spent interacting with the apparatus. In line with prior studies, these results suggest that gazing may be a significant communicative response in AAI dogs, which could probably contribute to having a better coordination with their handler. A greater understanding of the characteristics of this population may aid the selection and training of AAI dogs, which is particularly relevant given the increased popularity of AAI nowadays.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grants from the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) (number 11220130100182) and the National Agency for the Promotion of Science and Technology of Argentina (ANPCYT) (PICT 2014, number 0883). We would like to express our gratitude to all the owners who kindly allowed their dogs to participate in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas A. Lanari, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Combatientes de Malvinas 3150, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    C. Cavalli, M. V. Dzik & M. Bentosela

  2. Grupo de Investigación del Comportamiento en Cánidos (ICOC), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto de investigaciones Médicas (IDIM), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Combatientes de Malvinas 3150, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    C. Cavalli, M. V. Dzik & M. Bentosela

  3. Instituto de investigaciones Biológicas y Biomédicas del Sur (INBIOSUR, CONICET-UNS), San Juan 670 Piso 1 (8000), Bahía Blanca, Argentina

    F. Carballo

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  1. C. Cavalli
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  2. F. Carballo
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  3. M. V. Dzik
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  4. M. Bentosela
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Correspondence to M. Bentosela.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical considerations

All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. This study complies with the current Argentinean law of animal protection (Law 14.346) and all procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards and the approval of the CICUAL (Institutional Commission for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals) from the Medical Research Institute IDIM CONICET (Res. Nro 101-18). All owners expressed their consent for the participation of their dogs in this study.

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Cavalli, C., Carballo, F., Dzik, M.V. et al. Gazing as a help requesting behavior: a comparison of dogs participating in animal-assisted interventions and pet dogs. Anim Cogn 23, 141–147 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-019-01324-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-019-01324-8

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