66 Journal of Veterinary Behavior, Vol 6, No 1, January/February 2011

the primitive and molossoid group. No breed group differ-ences emerged in 2-month-old puppies.In Study 2, 47 4-month-old puppies and 47 adult dogs balancedfor breeds were tested. Our results show age differences inthe unsolvable trial, with adult spending more time gazing atthe researcher (dev 5 6.99, df 5 1, P 5 , 0.001), theowner (dev 5 17.46, df 5 1, P 5 ,0.001) and the apparatus(dev 5 12.44, df 5 1, P 5 , 0.001). Furthermore, adultdogs carried out a greater number of gaze alternations betweenthe experimenter and the bowl (dev 5 14.72, df 5 1, P 5 ,0.001) and the owner and the bowl (dev 5 11.88, df 5 1, P, 0.001) than did puppies. Ontogenetic and phylogenetic as-pects influence the dog’s performance in this socio-cognitivetask.

Key words: dog; age differences; breed differences;problem solving; human-directed gazing

Reference

Mikl�osi, A., Kubinyi, E., 2003. A simple reason for a big difference:

Wolves do not look back at humans but dogs do. Curr. Biol.13,

763–766.

VILLAGE DOGS AT THE PACIFIC COAST OF MEXICO:SOCIALIZATION TOWARD HUMANS AND HUMAN-DOGINTERACTIONSE. Ruiz-Izaguirre1,*, C.H.A.M. Eilers1, E.A.M. Bokkers1,A. Ortolani2, A. Ortega-Pachecho31Animal Production Systems Group, Department ofAnimal Sciences, Wageningen, Netherlands2Department of Animal and Human Biology, Universita’degli Studi di Roma ‘La Sapienza’, Rome, Italy3Autonomous University of Yucatan, Faculty of VeterinaryMedicine and Animal Science, Department of InternalMedicine and Surgery, Merida, Mexico*Corresponding author: eliza.ruizizaguirre@wur.nl

Dogs roam free in Mexican coastal villages adjacent to sea-turtle nesting beaches. Part of the village dog populationscavenges sea-turtle eggs like feral dogs do. The objectiveof this study was to characterize human-dog interactions,including behavior of village dogs toward familiar andunfamiliar humans. La Ticla village has many tourists, andColola has few tourists and is adjacent to a sea-turtlenesting sanctuary. We interviewed dog caregivers abouttheir dogs, and conducted behavioral tests on 59 dogsinside the family premises of each dog. The dog’s reactiontoward a familiar human and the dog’s willingness to ap-proach an unfamiliar human were assessed. Variableswere analyzed using the c2 test. Most dogs visited morethan one household: the main caregiver’s household andneighboring households (N 5 40; 68%), and were alsofed in these households (N 5 17; 28%). Most dogs playedwith humans (N 5 45; 76%). Most dogs (N 5 43; 73%)

responded to familiar humans by wagging their tail in afriendly way (predominantly horizontal tail position in arelaxed body). More dogs wagged their tail if they wereused to playing with humans (N 5 51; 86%), than thosethat were not (N 5 8; 14%) (P , 0.01). Only 29% (N 517) of dogs came into such a close distance to the unfamil-iar human that they could be touched. More dogsapproached closely if they were used to playing withhumans (N 5 55; 94%) than those that were not (N 5 4;6%) (P , 0.05). We conclude that most village dogssocialize with members of at least 2 households, but un-willingness to approach the unfamiliar humans indicatesinsufficient socialization or unrewarding experiences withunfamiliar humans.

Key words: village dogs; familiar humans; unfamiliarhumans; tail wagging; human-dog play

POLYMORPHISM OF SELECTED GENES CONTROLLING THEGROWTH OF THE SKELETON IN DACHSHUNDSJakub Vasek*, Pavel Vejl, Daniela Cilova,Nadezda �Sebkov�a, Barbora Benesova, Martina MelounovaCzech University of Life Science Prague, Prague, CzechRepublic*Corresponding author: vasek@af.czu.cz

Dachshunds belong to the group of short-legged dogbreeds. Shortened and deformed limbs, normal skulls andchondroid metaplasia of intervertebral discs are character-istic of the so called hypochondroplastic breeds, includingthe Dachshund. We analyzed 133 Dachshunds of all sizetypes. We also studied breeds with normal limb length(Czechoslovakian wolfdog, Rhodesian ridgeback, greatDane, English mastiff, bullmastiff). DNA was isolatedfrom buccal cells. The gene for alpha type 10 collagen(COL10A1) was one of the candidate genes for the creationof hypochondroplasia in Dachshunds. We prepared 3specific PCR-RFLP markers according to their sequencespublished in NCBI. These markers characterized threepoint mutations in exon 3. Mutant alleles were not typicalonly for Dachshunds. Identical mutations have also beendetected in breeds without symptoms of hypochondropla-sia. Statistically significant differences (c2-test, a 5 0.05)were not found in the distribution of mutations among stan-dard, dwarf and rabbit Dachshunds. We confirmed that theCOL10A1 gene mutations do not cause the typical shorten-ing of limbs. We used a published PCR marker, which dis-covered the presence of Fgf4 retrogene in all Dachshunds.The Fgf4 retrogene was also detected in Pekingese, Czechterriers and Westhighland white terriers. The Fgf4 retro-gene was not identified in any of the evaluated breedswith normal limb length. SOCS proteins are suppressorsof cytokine signaling. The SOCS2 gene mutation typicalfor big and giant dog breeds has been found in Dachshunds.

Abstracts 67

We detected a 326 G.T mutation in the European Dachs-hund populations. The mutant allele was detected only intwo standard Dachshunds, and always in heterozygousstate. Both individuals with the mutated allele are typicalrepresentatives of the breed with a number of exhibitionawards. Presented results were obtained with the supportof the grant project MSM 6046070901.

Key words: Dachshunds; chondrodysplasia; COL10A1;Fgf4 retrogene; SOCS2

GENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE BEARDED COLLIE BREED: ACAUSAL MUTATION OF COAT COLOR GENES AND THEDOPAMINE RECEPTOR GENE DRD4P. Vejl*, D. Cilova, J. Jezkova, M. MelounovaUniversity of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty ofAgrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Departmentof Genetics and Breeding, Kamycka 129, 16521, Prague6 – Suchdol, Czech Republic*Corresponding author: vejl@af.czu.cz;Phone: 1420-22438-2554

Sixty-two female and 47 male Bearded collies were genet-ically analyzed. DNA was isolated from buccal cells. Red,fawn or yellow coat color in certain breed of dogs is causedby recessive mutations 914C.T in the MC1R gene whichencodes the melanocortin 1 receptor. The original non-mutated allele of this gene is always found in brown coateddogs according to published PCR-RFLP markers. Theabsence of a dominant allele Ay of the locus ASIP wasdetected in brown animals. On the contrary, dominantmutation in the K gene encoding beta-defensin 103 wasobserved in all animals regardless of the color coat. Theprotein product of the mutant allele is linked to the mem-brane melanocortin receptor 1 and induces the production ofeumelanin. On the basis of published sequences, wedesigned two diagnostic PCR markers for the detection ofthis mutation. TYRP1 gene controls whether the resultingcolor coat is derived from the black or brown. We found twotypes of mutations in exon 5 of this gene in brown dogs. Wealso designed PCR-SSCP co-dominant marker for thedetection of third mutation 121T.C in exon II of thegene. Causal mutations leading to the emergence of varioushues derived from black or brown hair have been identifiedin all dogs with respect to their pedigrees. Impulsiveness,aggressiveness, ability to concentrate on training, ability toestablish contacts with people and other dogs, fearfulness,apathy, or a tendency to explore a new environment are oftenexamined as ‘psychological’ characteristics of dogs. Thedopamine receptor gene DRD4 has been studied with respectto a deficit of attention and activity. Five alleles of this locuswere found by using a published PCR marker. A question-naire was used to evaluate attention deficit and activity indogs. A statistically significant relationship between DRD4

locus allele frequencies and the degree of activity of dogswas not found. This study was supported by the grant projectMSM 6046070901.

Key words: bearded collie; coat color; MC1R; TYRP1;DRD4

A DIRECT COMPARISON OF HUMAN-GAZING BEHAVIORWHEN CONFRONTED WITH AN UNSOLVABLE TASK, INADULT DOGS AND HUMAN INFANTSEmanuela Prato Previde*, Elisa Colombo,Sarah Marshall-Pescini, Chiara PassalacquaDipartimento Scienze e Tecnologie Biomediche, Sezione diPsicologia, Universita di Milano, Via F.lli Cervi 93, 20090Segrate (Mi), Italy*Corresponding author: emanuela.pratoprevide@unimi.it

Gazing and gaze alternation are an important communica-tive behavior in human development. A recent studyshowed that gaze is used significantly more by dog puppiesthan by hand-reared wolves of the same age, suggestingthat gazing may have arisen in dogs as a product of thedomestication process and this species’ close contact withhumans. In this study, we used the ‘unsolvable task’ para-digm to compare adult pet dogs and human infants.Eighteen 12- to 14-month-old human infants and 22 adultdogs were tested. The test consisted of three ‘solvable’trials in which dogs could obtain food and children a de-sired toy by manipulating a plastic box, followed by an‘unsolvable’ trial in which obtaining the valuable resourcebecame impossible. All trials were video-recorded and thefollowing behavioral categories scored: 1. interaction withthe apparatus; 2. interaction with the reference person/researcher; 3. gazing at the reference person/researcher;4. gazing at the box; 5. vocalising and 6. other.Our results showed that in the first solvable trial dogslooked at the owner/teacher more than infants (z52.9;P50.003) whereas the latter looked longer at the apparatus(z54.04, P,0.001). Dogs carried out significantly moregaze alternation between owner/teacher and apparatusthan infants (z52.1; P50.03). In the unsolvable trial, in-fants and dogs spent a similar amount of time gazing atthe researcher (z50.4, n.s.) and at the owner/teacher(z51.1, n.s.), although infants again gazed longer at the ap-paratus (z52.44, P50.01). There were also no differencesin the frequency of gaze alternation between person and ap-paratus (researcher: z50.4, n.s., owner/teacher: z51.6). In afew instances infants were also seen to combine gazing be-havior with pointing. Taken together, these results showthat infants and dogs use gazing behavior in a similar man-ner when confronted with a desired object made unavail-able, suggesting that both use this behavior as a request.

Key words: children; dogs; communication; gazingbehavior; gaze alternation