Abstract
Both ontogenetic and phylogenetic factors have shaped dogs’ cognitive capabilities, resulting in a heightened social sensitivity at the apparent cost of non-social problem-solving abilities. Research has suggested that training history and life experience can influence problem-solving abilities in dogs. However, the ontogenetic development of problem-solving abilities in dogs has been less explored. We tested a population of candidate detection dogs of various ages across the first year of development on four well-established problem-solving tasks targeting different cognitive domains (i.e., cylinder, A-not-B barrier, delayed search, and spatial transposition tasks). We examined developmental effects by comparing cognitive task performance across three age groups. Age-related improvements for all four cognitive measures indicate developmental increases in processes related to inhibitory control, attention, and spatial cognition between 3 and 12 months of age. Additionally, we found some relationships between cognitive measures and detection dog performance measures, though effects were not as robust. We discuss the results in the context of canine cognitive development and corresponding effects of phylogeny and ontogeny, as well as potential applications to working dog training and selection.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by Auburn University’s Department of Psychology and the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT) Foundation. We thank Emma Cox, Bart Rogers, and Lily Strassberg for assistance with data collection, and Auburn University’s Canine Performance Sciences for access to the dogs and facilities to perform the experiments.
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Lazarowski, L., Krichbaum, S., Waggoner, L.P. et al. The development of problem-solving abilities in a population of candidate detection dogs (Canis familiaris). Anim Cogn 23, 755–768 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-020-01387-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-020-01387-y