evidence of surprise when seeing dogs behaving as if theywere able to compute. One patient even looked for the trick.Some other patients did not show a specific reaction linkedto the demonstration carried out by the dog but the usualone associated with the presence of the dog in the room,by itself pleasant enough for the patients. Their mood anddegree of participation remained similar to the one corre-sponding to other activities without a specific cognitivecomponent such as when grooming or caressing the dog.Patient reactions showed the degree of preservation of theconcentration capacities and numerical competence. Theyalso manifested their ideas about the possibility of thedogs performing numerical tasks or possessing symbol cog-nition. Lack of reaction could be for different reasons andmay not be directly related to the loss of numerical compe-tence. As in other therapies based on cognitive capacities(e.g., ‘‘use dogs that understand and use language’’), it iscrucial that the demonstration be carried out by a dog,and not by a child, whose performance may not be surpris-ing or stimulating. Our experimental design allowed perfor-mance of cognitive tests without danger of offendingpatients and may also be useful in ‘‘brain training,’’ turningan usually annoying activity into a stimulating one bymeans of a dog’s participation.

Key words: dog assisted therapy; human cognition;psychophysiological interaction between humans and dogs

Reference:

Wells, D.L., 2007. Domestic dogs and human health. Br. J. Health Psychol.

12, 145–156.

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DYNAMICS OF CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN CANINES:PRELIMINARY RESULTSUdo Gansloßer*Zool. Inst. and Museum, University of Greifswald,Germany*Corresponding author: udo@ganslosser.de

Canine social organization tends to create social conditionsthat in other taxa often lead to the evolutionary develop-ment of patterns of conflict management and conflictresolution. Canines have, at least at certain times of theyear, a high potential for intragroup aggression (and theweapons to enforce it), and they have a selective pressure onstrong, longer-lasting bonds, also between generations.Similar to the pressures in primates, these evolutionarypressures should also lead to the development of intensivesignaling and interacting to prevent conflicts getting out ofhand and thus loss of group cohesion. Behavioral mecha-nisms for regulating conflict situations, both pre- andpostconflict are, among others, signals for appeasement/submission, resource allocation, and postconflict reconcil-iation. Behavioral observations of feral dogs in Italy have

revealed that so-called cut-off signals, that is, signalsintended to stop another individual, mostly a younger/lower-ranking one, from continuing with whatever it isdoing at the moment, are regular parts of conflict manage-ment insofar as they seem to prevent situations fromescalating. They seem not to disrupt social cohesion evenin a short-term perspective, nor do they lead to any recog-nizable behavioral indicators of stress. Appeasement/sub-missive signals are regularly performed from the lower-ranking animal again without any detectable negativeeffects on group cohesion, nor any indicators of stress.Food allocation seems to follow more a motivation-depen-dent, egalitarian system than a long-term, dominance-basedone. Long-term reconciliation lasting up to several weeks oreven months, in the form of initiating friendly contacts bythe highest-ranking females, is found in several species ofwild canids in zoos, mainly after the peak estrous time. Theresults promise to shed light on several aspects of dog–person relationships but may also help to gain a less‘‘primatocentric’’ view on the evolution of complex conflictresolution mechanisms in social mammals.Thanks are due to all my colleagues and co-workers sharingdata and insights in this project, among them G. Bloch,S. Fischer, P. Laurilla, M. Meyer, M. Reimer, J. Seitz,V. Stohr, V. Warstat, and E. Wieloch.

Key words: submissive signaling; appeasement; reconciliation;cut-off/dominance signaling

Interactions between dogs and humans 101

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EXPLORING BREED DIVERSITY IN BEHAVIOR IN THEDOMESTIC DOG (CANIS FAMILIARIS)Tracey Clarke*Biological Science, Lincoln University, United Kingdom*Address for reprint requests and correspondence:brando.buddy@blueyonder.co.uk

‘‘There are important breed differences in almost everyaspect of behavior and physique, and even in the develop-ment of social relationships’’ (Scott and Fuller, 1965). De-spite Scott and Fuller’s findings, a review of the literature inthe area of canine behavior reveals that a substantial num-ber of studies have neglected to report breed information,and there is a lamentable lack of research focusing ondifferences in behavior between breeds. Behavioral differ-ences among breeds have often been regarded as remnantsfrom past selection during the breed’s origin. Therefore, theexplanatory value of the traditional breed classifications asdefined by the Kennel Club were first addressed before con-sidering whether less parsimonious classification sensitiveto evolutionary changes might have greater explanatoryvalue in illuminating and understanding breed differencesin behavior and anomalies.The selection in many breeds has, during the past decades,gone through great changes, which could have influencedbreed-typical behavior. The most obvious change has beenthe selection for physical appearance over function.

A common reason for relinquishment of pet dogs is that theirbehavior is contrary to the expectations of their owner.Because behavioral predispositions within a breed are be-lieved to be relatively predictable, to assist owner-dogmatching potential owners are often advised to acquire apurebred dog. Breed information is readily available viabooks, breed clubs, and the internet. The extent to which thisinformation is used by the public is unknown. The aim of thisstudy was to explore the familiarity of young adults with arange of dog breeds and their perceptions of these breeds.First year psychology students (n 5 249) were presented witha series of photographs depicting 28 common dog breeds. Foreach dog they were required to identify the breed and ratetheir level of familiarity with it. They were then asked torate each breed on a number of behavioral traits.Eight of the breeds were identified by over 80% of the sample,8 by between 60–80%, and the remaining 12 breeds by fewerthan 60% of participants. Mean levels of familiarity rangedbetween 0.17 and 2.0 on a five point scale (0 5 not at allfamiliar to 4 5 extremely familiar). The participants ratedmost breeds as being unsuitable as pets for themselves, butwere more likely to endorse smaller breeds as appropriatefamily pets. There were significant differences across breedsin the degree to which they were perceived to be devoted,friendly, safe with children, aggressive, easily trained, playful,active, fearful, noisy, difficult to care for, and susceptible tohealth problems. Several breeds consistently received highscores on traits likely to be desirable in a companion dog.Other breeds received high scores on less desirable traits. Forsome breeds, familiarity was associated statistically with morepositive or more negative ratings. Relatively low levels ofbreed recognition and familiarity present a challenge to thoseadvising companion dog buyers to purchase purebred dogsbecause of the relative predictability of behavioral character-istics. It was evident from the results, however, that theparticipants did differentiate among breeds in terms of theirbeliefs about various characteristics. This indicates that breedstereotypes exist in the Australian community, even amongyoung adults unfamiliar with specific breeds. Although we didnot rate actual breed characteristics in this study, perceptionsabout some breeds were at odds with descriptions in popularbooks and in published breed standards. In addition, partic-ipants who described themselves as being very familiar with abreed often described that breed more or less positively thandid less familiar participants. Because breed perceptions mayinfluence the purchasing behavior of dog owners, it will be

102 Journal of Veterinary Behavior, Vol 4, No 2, March/April 2009

Irrespective of breed, most dogs are bred with considerationfor physical characteristics, and the dog’s role as a com-panion has become more important. Therefore, in exploringbreed diversity in behavior, we would ask if there wereconsistent differences in breed types’ performances inproblem-solving ability and human–animal communica-tion, more commonly referred to as social cognition, andresulting from convergent evolution.Acknowledging the significance of the dog’s referentialgazing as fundamental to dog–human communication, thispresented as an appropriate starting point to begin anexploration of breed diversity in behavior. Pilot studieswere developed to explore two measurements of behavior:the latency and duration of time breeds spent looking at theresearcher when faced with an insoluble problem. Thetraditional classification of dog breeds by origin of functionwas employed.There were differences between the breed groups in theduration of time spent looking at the researcher during theinsoluble test (P 5 0.04), however given the arbitrarynature of group classification, and the paucity of etholog-ical descriptions of breed behavior, we must caution againstconcluding that these are meaningful differences. The mostsignificant difference revealed by these pilot studies wasbetween age group and the time the dogs’ ceased interest inattempting to solve the insoluble test (P 5 0.03). The re-sults of these pilot studies suggest that future experimentalmodels should be sensitive to age.The project team have available data from an extensivesurvey of problem solving abilities in pet dogs involvingapproximately 10,000 dogs from 149 breeds and cross-breeds. This sample size allows use of multivariate ap-proaches. We can also investigate if there are consistentvariations between breeds within the same breed type in orderto identify outliers or breeds that do not fit the overall profileof their breed type.

Key words: dog; breed; behavior; classifications

References:

Scott, J.P., Fuller, J.L., 1965. Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog.

Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1965.

Svartberg, K., 2005. A comparison of behavior in test and in everyday life:

evidence of three consistent boldness-related personality traits in dogs.

Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 91, 103–128.

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YOUNG ADULTS’ FAMILIARITY WITH, AND PERCEPTIONSOF, COMMON DOG BREEDS IN AUSTRALIAPauleen C Bennett*, Kate MornementAnimal Welfare Science Centre, Monash University,Australia*Corresponding author:pauleen.bennett@med.monash.edu.au

important in the future to target this sector of the populationwith appropriate educational material.

Key words: dog breed stereotypes; breed characteristics;public perceptions

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WELFARE ASSESSMENT IN DOGS: REDUCING THEINVASIVENESS OF WELFARE ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY