A group of American scientists tested the hypothesis that homeless dogs take longer to ask for help from humans than dogs with families, when faced with an impossible task to get food.
The study
- An impossible task was given to several dogs from 3 categories:
- dogs that have been living in a family for more than a year
- dogs in foster care or that have been in the family for less than a year
- dogs housed in shelters.
- The task consisted of giving them a sealed box with food inside and recording their reaction with the box and the guide or person nearby.
Results
- Dogs that have lived in a family for a year or more (category a), give up when faced with the impossibility of the task and look at the handler, before dogs in categories b) and c). Clearly requesting collaboration and help.
conclusion
The time that a dog has been in a family, as well as its previous experiences with the human being, influence the dog when it comes to solving problems (in this case the sealed box with food inside) and its form of communication with the human requesting aid.
The importance of social scaffolding
What is social scaffolding?
It is a term used in developmental psychology to refer to the set of aids, guidance and information that an individual (in this case, a dog) receives throughout its development.
Asking for help implies greater social scaffolding
That a dog asks his handler for help, and that his handler supports him, is not bad, in principle.
In fact, this study invites us to ask ourselves some specific questions, before stating that our dog does not pay attention to us.
For example:
- Could it be that he has been living with us for less than a year?
According to this study, less than a year of life in the family would be an insufficient period to provide the experiences with humans necessary to be less independent. If you have just adopted a dog and you are desperate because it does not listen to you. Be patient during the first year, since you need a minimum of experiences.
If your dog has been at home for more than a year and ignores you… Is our relationship with the dog stable? That is, is there a healthy bond?
The study shows that the more time spent with the family, the more attentive the dog is to looking at the handler and asking for help. So, once again, the number of experiences matters. If you want your dog to pay more attention to you, do more things with him.
Social scaffolding is also trained
Training based on obtaining rewards (positive reinforcement) and spending time with our dog will increase their number of experiences with people, improving their attention and collaboration.
So there might be a way to speed up the process: train with your dog.
In the study that concerns us, it is also concluded that trained dogs improve their communication with humans. But in addition, this communication is greater if the training begins when the dogs are puppies.
2 practical exercises to train social scaffolding
- Play with your dog: playing with your dog over his favorite stuffed animal, in a fun way and without orders, increases the experiences. If due to your physical condition, disputing a toy with your dog is too tiring, or your dog prefers to be thrown the ball. You can try to hide it, let your dog look for it and then bring it to you, before throwing it. You will thus be favoring a more balanced and cognitive game.
- Pet your dog: share some time with your dog on the sofa or on his mat, if you don’t like him getting on the sofa, and pet him looking to please him in the spots where he likes it the most. Petting should last at least five minutes and make it clear that your dog is enjoying it. If you are lucky enough that your dog loves to be combed, this hygiene exercise can count as caresses that promote social scaffolding.
References:
Gould, K. et al. 2022: Persistence and gazing at humans during an unsolvable task in dogs: The influence of ownership duration, living situation, and prior experience with humans. Behavioural Processes, 104710.
