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Play behaviour of the domestic dog Canis familiaris, and its effects upon the dog-human relationship

Play behaviour of the domestic dog Canis familiaris, and its effects upon the dog-human relationship
Play behaviour of the domestic dog Canis familiaris, and its effects upon the dog-human relationship

Dog-human play was characterised as distinct from dog-dog play. Focal sampling of 402 dog walkers and a survey of 2585 dog owners revealed that dogs housed in multi-dog households played as frequently as did dogs in single-dog households, indicating that interspecific play is unlikely to be a substitute for intraspecific play. An experimental study of Labrador Retrievers showed that, when playing with another dog, dogs were more motivated to complete for possession of an object, but, when playing with a human, interaction was more important.

'Object-oriented play', defined as play involving two individuals responding to each other but centreing around an object , was shown to differ structurally from both social and object play. Two experimental studies of Labrador Retrievers showed that people can increase dogs' interest in a toy via their presence and by a protocol of rewards.

The effects of different game types upon dog-human relationships were examined experimentally. A study of 30 Labrador Retrievers showed that repeated playing of some game types can affect dog-human relationships, but it detected no differences between dogs which won and lost at tug-of-war, contrary to claims in the popular literature. A further study using 14 Golden Retrievers detected an increase in 'Obedient attentiveness' towards an experimenter after play and also an increase in 'Demandingness'. However, whether dogs won or lost at tug-of-war only affected their 'Playful attention seeking' scores; after winning they scored higher than after losing.

When playing with their dogs, dog owners were observed to use a wide variety of play signals of varying effectiveness. Two of these signals, 'Bow' and 'Lunge', were shown experimentally to instigate play between dog and person, and their efficiency was increased when they were accompanied by play vocalisations.

University of Southampton
Rooney, Nicola Jane
688260e8-2a35-4ede-b16d-da914b634796
Rooney, Nicola Jane
688260e8-2a35-4ede-b16d-da914b634796

Rooney, Nicola Jane (1999) Play behaviour of the domestic dog Canis familiaris, and its effects upon the dog-human relationship. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

Dog-human play was characterised as distinct from dog-dog play. Focal sampling of 402 dog walkers and a survey of 2585 dog owners revealed that dogs housed in multi-dog households played as frequently as did dogs in single-dog households, indicating that interspecific play is unlikely to be a substitute for intraspecific play. An experimental study of Labrador Retrievers showed that, when playing with another dog, dogs were more motivated to complete for possession of an object, but, when playing with a human, interaction was more important.

'Object-oriented play', defined as play involving two individuals responding to each other but centreing around an object , was shown to differ structurally from both social and object play. Two experimental studies of Labrador Retrievers showed that people can increase dogs' interest in a toy via their presence and by a protocol of rewards.

The effects of different game types upon dog-human relationships were examined experimentally. A study of 30 Labrador Retrievers showed that repeated playing of some game types can affect dog-human relationships, but it detected no differences between dogs which won and lost at tug-of-war, contrary to claims in the popular literature. A further study using 14 Golden Retrievers detected an increase in 'Obedient attentiveness' towards an experimenter after play and also an increase in 'Demandingness'. However, whether dogs won or lost at tug-of-war only affected their 'Playful attention seeking' scores; after winning they scored higher than after losing.

When playing with their dogs, dog owners were observed to use a wide variety of play signals of varying effectiveness. Two of these signals, 'Bow' and 'Lunge', were shown experimentally to instigate play between dog and person, and their efficiency was increased when they were accompanied by play vocalisations.

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Published date: 1999

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 463831
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/463831
PURE UUID: b5be428b-7eba-43bd-9763-26784834ee75

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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 20:57
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 19:06

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Author: Nicola Jane Rooney

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