How does your dog compare to a toddler? Recent animal
research is comparing the abilities of dogs with young humans. A brand new
study by Márta Gácsi et al in Hungary investigates whether dogs have the same
response as infants to a test called the Strange Situation.
In humans, attachment theory explains how children need to
develop a strong attachment to at least one caregiver. If they don’t, their
social and emotional development will be disrupted. As infants begin to crawl,
the caregiver is a ‘secure base’ from which to explore.
Mary Ainsworth developed the Strange Situation as a way of
investigating attachment. This is a standardized procedure in which the infant
is in a room with their caregiver when a stranger comes in. Following a strict
protocol, the baby is left alone with the stranger, then comforted by the
caregiver, left all alone, then joined by the stranger again. An infant that is
securely attached will be upset when the caregiver leaves the room, but is
happy to see them return and easily soothed.
Attempts to replicate the Strange Situation with dogs have
led to mixed results, probably because a well-socialized dog is happy to see a
friendly stranger. So Gácsi et al designed this study to include a threatening
approach from a stranger, to make it more difficult for the dog.
They measured the dog’s physiological response in terms of
heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV), as HRV can be an indicator of
stress even when HR is unchanged. To do this, they had to shave three small
patches of the dog’s fur and attach electrodes.
Thirty-two medium or large pet dogs took part in the
experiment at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. After the heart rate
monitor was fitted in a waiting room, the dog and their owner were left alone
in the experimental room for ten minutes. This gave the dog time to explore and
get used to the surroundings. The room was fitted with video cameras so that
the dog’s behaviour could be recorded.
The experiment itself had two conditions that were
counter-balanced. In other words, half the dogs first experienced the
threatening approach from the stranger when they were with their owners, and later
experienced it without their owners. The other half of the dogs first
experienced the threatening approach without their owners, and the second time
they had their owner present.
The stranger was a female experimenter who approached slowly,
staring at the dog, as this is something dogs find threatening. However,
because movement can affect HR, if the dog moved around or barked she stopped
and waited until the dog settled down again. The data from the time when the
dog was moving was discarded. At the very end, the stranger had a friendly interaction with the dog, so as to finish on a positive note.
The dogs’ heart rate
increased during the threatening approach, and it increased most when the owner
was absent. Heart rate variability, also a sign of stress, increased most when
the owner was absent and the stranger was not approaching.
Of course, some dogs react more strongly to separation from
their owner or to the sight of strangers. So Gácsi also did an analysis
comparing reactive to non-reactive dogs. Dogs were defined as
reactive to separation if they whined or
barked while the owner was gone. For these dogs, HRV increased during
separation, but less so when the stranger approached.
Dogs were defined as reactive
to the threatening approach if they growled or barked at the stranger. For
these dogs, HR increased significantly when they saw the stranger, but less so
if their owner was present, or if they had previously seen the stranger when
the owner was present. Interestingly, the non-reactive dogs actually had no
overall HR increase during the threatening approach. It turns out that some of
these dogs had a slight increase (stress) and some had a slight decrease in HR
(because they were interested in the stranger), and these balanced each other
out.
These results show some similarity to the behaviour of
infants during the Strange Situation. During the threatening approach, the
increase in dogs’ heart rate was not as great if the owner was with them. In
the reactive dogs, there was a protective effect if they first met the stranger
when the owner was present; this made them less stressed when subsequently
meeting the stranger without the owner present (though still not at baseline).
The presence of the owner had a ‘secure base’ effect, similar to that of a
caregiver with an infant. The authors say “our results contribute to earlier findings
that dogs and humans provide social support for each other in stressful
situations.”
This relates to studies of social referencing. Infants look
to their caregiver for information about a new object, and alter their
behaviour accordingly (i.e. approach or avoid). Studies of dogs with a strange
object have found
similar results.
One drawback to the current study is that, because the
measurements were affected by movement, if the dog moved the stranger had to
pause her approach and the data during that time could not be used. So it was
not a natural approach, and the total time the dog was in the presence of the stranger
varied depending on the dog’s response. Nonetheless, it shows that the presence
of the owner provides some security for the dog if they are threatened by an
approaching stranger.
The study also shows there are individual differences in how
dogs respond to separation from their owner and to a threatening stranger. Some
of the dogs were interested in the stranger despite her threatening manner of
approach, whereas others reacted by growling and barking. How does your dog
respond to strangers?
Reference
Gácsi, M., Maros, K., Sernkvist, S., Faragó, T., & Miklósi, �. (2013). Human Analogue Safe Haven Effect of the Owner: Behavioural and Heart Rate Response to Stressful Social Stimuli in Dogs PLoS ONE, 8 (3) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058475
Dogs do things that get rewarded and so the way to
extinguish a behaviour is to stop rewarding it. For example, many people find
jumping up annoying, but actually reward it by patting the dog or speaking to
it when it jumps. Hence, the dog keeps jumping. When you stop rewarding the
behaviour, it will stop.
In humans, attachment theory explains how children need to
develop a strong attachment to at least one caregiver. If they don’t, their
social and emotional development will be disrupted. As infants begin to crawl,
the caregiver is a ‘secure base’ from which to explore. 
