of the Dog - Association of Pet Dog Trainers

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Creative Canine: Original Intentional Canine-to-Human Communication scores. Only non-sporting dogs and terriers (along with the limited sample of hounds and toy) showed no affection messages according to their “heartbroken” humans. Sporting dogs sent more avoidance messages and terriers attempted to scrounge at 10 times the beg average. Only sporting dogs, bred for obedience to field cues, and mixes asked for permission. Terriers and mixes seemed to have the weakest bladders with potty messages well above category average. Terriers and mixes (most likely those with terrier genes!) sent alerts at twice the average. Herding dogs issued alerts equal to the baseline with sporting dogs to a less extent. Only mixes and herding dogs displayed greet messages and only herding dogs and toys wanted to play. Gender and Age Males made up the majority of dog subjects: 57% to females 43%. Most showed their reported creative communication behaviors at very young ages. As far as behaviors used for communications, both genders rated very close to the category average. Males tended to use slightly more gestures, actions and vocal behaviors while females liked gaze, touch and modeling behaviors. Genders eschewed stereotypes, though. Females gave more alert messages than males while guys signaled their softer side by ranking above gals for affection. Males also liked to greet more. Males wanted to go potty (or possible marking?) more frequently than either the average or females. Females preferred to elicit attention and permission. Both showed similar avoidance messages. Frisky puppies obviously demonstrated the most action, touch and vocal behaviors but, surprisingly, also the most complex behaviors second only to those with unknown behavior ages. Pups showed significantly lower gesture behaviors to the average. However, gesture along with vocal increasingly became the communication tools of choice as dogs aged, especially for with dogs aged three to five years who preferred to gesture twice as much as any other behavior. While pups equaled the baseline for gaze, dogs one to two years olds showed no gaze behaviors. The sole senior dog relied on gaze exclusively, probably because he was too tired to move! An interesting note, older dogs showed more modeling behaviors while younger dogs more complex ones. Older dogs also sought permission the most often. Of course, puppies expressed the most potty urges and ranked highest for play. Pups, though, did not solicit as much for affection or attention as older dogs. Their avoidance and permission messages came close to the average but showed no beg behavior. Dogs age one to two years did beg the most and dogs age three to five years sought the most affection and attention. Acquisition 18 Most owners acquired their dogs from either professional breeders or shelters/rescue groups. Family, friends or their own dog’s litter were the next largest sources, then from strangers, and backyard breeders, or they were found as strays. The rest obtained their dog from other sources. Behaviors of dogs acquired from professional breeders closely resembled the averages of the survey. Dogs from people known to their humans—family, friends or their owner’s own litters—ranked higher on action behaviors. Dogs acquired from professional breeders, rescue groups and shelters showed the most variety of communicative behaviors. Dogs from rescues did not touch and shelter dogs did not touch nor gaze. Shelter dogs offered more gestures than average but less than half of action behaviors. Shelter and rescue dogs as well as professionally bred dogs showed the most modeling behaviors. Note, dogs from backyard breeders ranked highest for complex behaviors. Both strays and stranger-provided dogs were the most vocal, almost twice the average. Former strays also gestured more than other dogs. Dogs acquired from strangers or backyard breeders relied on gaze significantly more as a communication tool, perhaps due to excessive kenneling. Dogs whelped in their own homes offered equal beg, greet, avoidance, alert and request messages. In fact, these dogs seemed to beg 10 times the average and to send greet or avoidance messages four times the average. Also high on avoidance were shelter and rescue dogs. Former strays maintained their scavenging wiles with 50% of their messages pegged as begs compared to the 2% average. Emotion-laden messages ranked higher with some acquisition groups. In the baseline, dogs offered only 6% play messages compared to 10% by those acquired from professional breeders, 17% for dogs from backyard breeders, and a whopping 35% for dogs from family and friends. Not surprisingly, humans believed their strays expressed affection five times the average and those with rescue dogs twice as much. Whether or not rescued dogs truly manifest such prodigious gratitude or their good Samaritans unconsciously crave anthropomorphic appreciation may provide an intriguing topic for future research. Other Pets Most dogs lived with another canine or other pets while 16% were “home alone.” Those loners preferred gesture behaviors, double the average. Typically, dogs living alone or without other dogs craved the most attention. Loners also gave alert and affection signals more often than other groups. As one might expect, dogs residing only with another dog offered the most vocal and action behaviors as well as more avoidance, greet and play messages. Dogs cohabiting with both dogs and other pets showed the highest modeling behaviors Dogs who lived only with non-canid pets presented the most intriguing results of the entire study. They displayed no vocal or action behaviors. These guys chose complex, gaze or gesture to get their point across. In addition, these dogs living with non-canine pets exhibited the most unusual message pattern of any variable group. The dogs showed significantly high avoidance, permission and play messages. 19 They gave no affection signals. Compared to the dogs without cospecific pets, dogs who lived with other dogs > 28 w The APDT Chronicle of the Dog w November/December 2008 www.APDT.com
plus other species evinced a message pattern closer to the category average. Based on these results, canine signals may be influenced by living with non-canine animals and this effect may prove a fascinating future research topic! Owners and Trainers The majority of respondents owned dogs for at least four years and identified themselves as trainers with more than 70% working part-time. About half the respondents noted additional experience with dogs such as veterinary technician, professional groomer or sitter, animal welfare volunteer, as well as handler for therapy work and ring sports. A dozen participants failed to list type of ownership. New owners (three or less years) cited vocal and gesture more than any other behavior and well above average, an expected response as humans innately attune to verbal and nonverbal language. 20 Experienced owners tracked close to average while those with unknown background listed more modeling, complex and touch and considerably less gesture than average. The majority of new owners thought their pets craved attention but (a surprise) no play, affection, alert or potty messages (why accidents happen?). Experienced owners noticed much less attention seeking but slightly above average play, alert, greet and avoidance messages. For them, affection also dipped below average. Those with unknown background saw potty, request and affection messages equally and higher than average permission. Full-time trainers’ acumen for canine nuance showed. They reported considerably less vocal and action behaviors but more complicated modeling and complex behaviors which scored nearly three times the average. Full-time trainers noted higher than average gestures. Full-time trainers’ canines offered no permission, avoidance, beg or play messages. Their dogs sought both attention and other requests in one-third of their messages. And, their dogs showed affection and greet slightly above average. Part-time trainers proved more interesting. The vocal responses topped the average and almost equaled that of new owners. They also reported less than average gestures and modeling but higher touch and gaze. A reason may be that some experienced owners or others such as shelter volunteers considered themselves part-time trainers although they lacked requisite knowledge and experience. However, those mentioning “additional” experience scored close to average. Part-time trainers’ dogs seem a bit less mannered than those of their full-time peers. Parttimers reported their pets offered avoidance, beg, permission, affection messages equal to average but fewer attention appeals. Their pups also asked to potty more than the their peers and for higher than average general requests At least three part-time trainers may have misidentified calming signals as another message. One said the dog’s tongue flick and sneeze marked impatience with a training lull (instead of insecurity with the training itself?). Another owner viewed yawns as a potty request or beg, while the other correctly noted the dog’s tongue flicks www.APDT.com as likely avoidance. Class Attendance A majority of respondents either graduated from (39%) or were currently enrolled (18%) in a dog training class; the rest did not specify any class participation. Current students reported six times the action behaviors of graduates, but slightly less vocal behaviors than grads or the mean. A note to trainers, your classes help—the current students, who most likely are new owners, reported almost half the vocal communications of general new owners and reported more action, complex and gaze behaviors. Current students, though, indicated much less modeling and gestures than newbies, graduates or non-students. Grads tracked closely to both the baseline and the responses of experienced owners. Non-students listed the most vocal and modeling behaviors but fewer gaze or gesture behaviors than the student groups or average. Current students interpreted the most attention messages, but far less than the 60% identified by general new owners. Current students also led in play and affection messages, both twice the average, and in permission. Nonstudents tracked highest in avoidance. Grads noted double permission seeking than either the average or experienced owners, perhaps due to insights gained during classes. Other Activities Our respondent-dog teams participated in 10 different activities with agility the most popular followed by obedience, conformation, and therapy. Herding and Rally sports teams reported the most complicated behaviors with herders five times the average for complex and Rally four times the average modeling scores. Herders also ranked highest in action and led in alert messages with show and therapy dogs next. Herders sought play four times more than average followed by SAR dogs, who, surprisingly, ranked well over average for avoidance. Show dogs also ranked above baseline for avoidance and beg. Show and herder dogs asked for potty breaks most often. Therapy dogs obviously showed the highest affection messages (followed by obedience) but, ironically, gave the most vocal behaviors, a reaction they should not offer during visits. SAR and Rally activities also produced very high vocal scores. Agility and therapy dogs also gestured most often with conformation and agility tied for second. Service dogs had very above average rates for touch and gaze behaviors as well as permission messages. Rally led in attention with obedience and agility close behind. Interesting Examples If, as Marc Bekoff asserts, “anecdotes are data,” 21 then the stories related by participants in their essay responses may reveal more about canines creative communications than any statistical data. Complicated complex and modeling behaviors produced imaginative, non-trained communiqués. One Collie imitated humans by ringing a [continued on next page] November/December 2008 w The APDT Chronicle of the Dog w 29 Creative Canine: Original Intentional Canine-to-Human Communication
Page 1 and 2: The APDT CHRONICLE of the Dog Novem
Page 3 and 4: Ma n a g i n g ed i t o r /co M M u
Page 5 and 6: A Message From the President ... Ke
Page 7 and 8: CANINE BEHAVIOR Handelman $49.95 CH
Page 9 and 10: FREE SAMPLE ISSUE! 2. I have learne
Page 11 and 12: (Riverside, CA) comparing 50 assess
Page 13 and 14: www.APDT.com November/December 2008
Page 15 and 16: they adopt the attitudes that yield
Page 17 and 18: “Give Me a Break!” Recently, a
Page 19 and 20: “We’re back on. This is for you
Page 21 and 22: Hence, an uncertified but enthusias
Page 23 and 24: Teaching Classes Safety First Joan
Page 25 and 26: Creative Canine: Original Intention
Page 27: Value Title 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% Fi
Page 31 and 32: Endotes 1. Miklósi, Á., Topál, J
Page 33 and 34: There’s often a belief that lower
Page 35 and 36: One variable—location—is the sa
Page 37 and 38: woman named Fawn, who said to me,
Page 39 and 40: At Afirst glance, the dog appeared
Page 41 and 42: animals that are trying to co-exist
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Page 45 and 46: Wide Panting: When the dog’s mout
Page 47 and 48: What the APDT Web Site Can Do For Y
Page 49 and 50: Crate Games for Self Control and Mo
Page 51 and 52: ehavior consultants, as well as bus

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