Tag Archives: behavior

08/18/13

Do dog dreams matter?

Border terrier puppy sleeping on a couch with question above 'Do dog dreams matter?'.


Listen by clicking play above, or read on…

 

Ever since I’ve been a child, I have had very significant nightmares. I often dream about my house being on fire, or being maimed or killed in a robbery or abduction or any other type of foul play. I have died many times in my dreams – more often than I can count.

Furthermore, I experience sleep paralysis.  I wake or semi-wake from nightmares, only to not be able to move from bed, and have the terrifying experience of both being conscious of the fact that I am dreaming, but unable to remove myself from the situation.  Then there are the times that I have just sleep paralysis with no dreaming, which is almost as frightening as your body tricks you into believing that you are also unable to breathe.

Luckily, I know that my dreams and nightmares are merely figments of my imagination, and I can rationalise the sleep paralysis experience.  I know that a masked intruder has never entered the house and killed me or my partner.  I know that I have never been in a house fire.  I know that I have never been involved in a robbery and witnessed the slaughter of bystanders. I know that I have never, actually, been unable to breathe.

Despite ‘knowing’ that these things are not real, they still make way to very real fears for me. I slept with a light on until I was 14 and sometimes still do if I am home alone. I always lock my car doors when I am driving. At night, I am hyper-vigilant in public spaces, and often find myself looking for weapons to use in self defence.

Me, a rationale adult human, is very affected by the nightmares I have – even though they’re not real. Like Phoebe, in Friends (watch from 3 minutes).

http://youtu.be/2EomKbf9gks?t=3m

But I often I wonder if our dogs can conceptualise their dreams as real. Is it far-fetched to think that maybe dogs are psychologically affected by their dreams?

We know dogs must dream. We can see them partake in REM sleep. What they are dreaming about, however, remains a mystery.

Dreams are something we learn about.  I remember a six year old telling me over breakfast, with a bemused expression, “I think I had a dream”.  This child has knowledge on the concept of ‘dreams’, but was still connecting this term with her own cognitive processes.  While we can teach children on what a dream is, we do not have this luxury with dogs.

Is there much of a difference between the memory of a dream and a memory of a real experience?

I have nightmares that result in real-life fears. Despite my capacity to conceptualise and rationalise my dreams, they still translate to fears in my life.

Is it possible that dogs are having nightmares? And is it such a big stretch to suggest that these dreams may affect a dog’s behaviour?

What do you think?

 

Further reading:

A post on DOL forums on dogs and nightmares.

The Science of Dreaming.

06/7/13

The Range of Imitation in Dogs

ResearchBlogging.orgThis is a brief review of the extensive work by German researcher Friederike Range, looking at imitation or modelling behaviour in dogs. Previously, I posted anecdotal evidence on modelling in dogs (which many people shared their experiences on). This post is more sciencey!

Border terrier and young woman running in large paddock with bushes behind them.

Dogs can imitate the behaviour of both dogs and people. Imitation success depends on a range of factors, including:

  • The task at hand, including its complexity, has a role in imitation.
  • If a human is modelling the behaviour, if they are talking, this can either help or hinder the dog’s modelling, depending on the task. Eye contact can also help (or hinder) a dog in a task. It can help, as it may illustrate to the dogs bits that it should pay particular attention to. However, it make hinder as it may distract the dog from the task at hand.
  • Training plays a role. Dogs that are ‘better trained’ are better at making deduction on behaviour from witnessing a model.
  • The dog’s individual personality.

Interestingly, dogs don’t ‘blindly model’ behaviour of other dogs. They will try to be more efficient, they will learn from the other model’s mistakes, and make adjustments based on particular circumstances. For example, if a dog witnesses the model dog carrying a ball and pushing a lever with its foot, the dog will imitate by pushing the lever with its mouth. The dog seems to realise the model dog used its foot because its mouth was occupied. However, if the model dog pushed the lever with its foot without anything in his mouth, the dog will imitate the foot-push. (Almost, the dog imitates superstitious behaviours.)

Fascinatingly, several dogs have been trained to imitate behaviour.  A dog called Joy was trained with the cue ‘Do it!’.  The experimenter would do one of eight behaviours, say ‘do it’, and Joy would then do the behaviour just demonstrated. After several weeks, they then asked Joy to ‘do’ a behaviour that the experimenter had never demonstrated behaviour. Joy did it. Joy understood the concept of ‘do what I do’. You can see more videos of dogs ‘doing it’.

The conclusions are: Yes, of course dogs model the behaviour of people and dogs. Indeed, they can be trained to do so. There is still a lot of research going on about all the facets of imitation, and it’s all truly fascinating. Definitely a space to watch.

 

 

Links of Interest

Do dogs imitate? by Patricia McConnell.

Dogs show human-like learning ability.

If you’re aggressive, your dog probably will be to.

Dogs automatically imitate people.

 

References

Huber, L, Range, F, Viranyi, Z & Voelkl, B 2008, ‘The evolution of imitation: Old wine in new bottles?’ (PDF).

Range, F., Heucke, S., Gruber, C., Konz, A., Huber, L., & Virányi, Z. (2009). The effect of ostensive cues on dogs’ performance in a manipulative social learning task Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 120 (3-4), 170-178 DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2009.05.012

Range, F., & Viranyi, Z. (2009). Different aspects of social learning in dogs Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 4 (6) DOI: 10.1016/j.jveb.2009.05.007

Range, F., Viranyi, Z., & Huber, L. (2007). Selective Imitation in Domestic Dogs Current Biology, 17 (10), 868-872 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.04.026

Szucsich, A, Range, F, Miklosi, A, Huber, L 2008, ‘Imitative ability of dogs‘.

Tiefenthaler, M, Range, F, & Huber, L 2008, ‘Personality in dogs and its influence on social learning behaviour‘.

Virányi, Z., & Range, F. (2009). How does ostensive communication influence social learning in dogs? Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 4 (2) DOI: 10.1016/j.jveb.2008.10.023

Viranyi, Z, Range, F, & Huber L 2008, ‘The influence of ostensive demonstration on selective imitation in dogs‘.

02/9/13

Can breeders breed better?

In June last year, I attended a webinar run by ASAP Labratory run by Dr Jacqui Ley on breeding better dogs. I was particularly excited that ASAP ran a webinar as I missed out on a live seminar in Adelaide a few weeks prior.

The seminar was called, “Behaviour = Genetics + Learning + Environment - raising even better dogs“.

Jacqui wanted to challenge breeders: Can we make improvements to the way we breed dogs?

Screenshot from Breeding Better Dogs webinar.

Screenshot from Breeding Better Dogs webinar.

Jacqui’s personal experience with two dogs (pictured above) with anxiety and aggression problems has lead to her being passionate about breeders producing ‘good’ dogs. Continue reading →