Wolves do not join the dance: Sophisticated aggression control by adjusting to human social signals in dogs

Abstract

a b s t r a c tIn this study we aimed to investigate novel aspects of dogs' comprehension of human social behaviours by revealing potential differences in the responses of wolves and dogs when they interact with a human in socially ambiguous situations.In Experiment 1, pet dogs (N = 13) and hand-reared wolves (N = 13) encountered a stranger who approached them first in a friendly, then a threatening way, and finally switched back to friendliness again (Approaching stranger; AS) while the passive owner/caregiver was standing close to the subjects. In contrast to dogs, wolves avoided eye contact with both the caregiver and the stranger, however, only dogs showed aggressive displays towards the stranger.In Experiment 2, the same subjects were tested in an Object guarding (OG) situation. A familiar woman, communicating the playful nature of the encounter, pretended to aim at taking away her belt-bag from the subjects trying to make them respond with guarding behaviour. Finally, she tried to take away the object without using dominant/threatening behaviour. During the Game episode some dogs and wolves showed guarding displays, but only dogs switched their responses twice and finally allowed the human take hold of the object. All dogs but none of the wolves gazed at the owner/caregiver during the test.In Experiment 3, we tested trained Belgian shepherd dogs (N = 13) in AS, OG, and in a Food guarding (FG) situation. In FG a familiar woman challenged the subject to guard a bone by applying enticement but otherwise not communicating the playful/pretended nature of the encounter. Dogs displayed aggressive behaviours in all three situations as a response to the human's behaviour. In AS they adjusted their behaviour from passive/friendly to aggressive and then friendly again, according to the switch in the human partner's actions. In OG and FG situations, after showing aggressive guarding displays they allowed the human to take away the guarded object, both the bag and the food. A characteristic high-pitched vocalisation observed during both guarding situations, typically before the first aggressive display, could refer to the dogs' ambivalent emotions. This suggests that the human's challenging behaviour alone might be effective to evoke a simulated guarding behaviour. Our results support the view that dogs have advanced abilities and readiness to combine seemingly contradicting behaviour responses to respond to human behaviours or expectations, whilst even hand-reared and extensively socialised wolves tend to display less human centred behaviours and adjust their behaviours less to that of humans' in interspecific situations.

A quick assessment tool for human‐directed aggression in pet dogs

“…It cannot be excluded, however, that this could be explained by motivational aspects (i.e., dogs were less motivated to guard the rag than the bone). Anyway, the tug‐of‐war test did not successfully assess possession‐related aggressive behavior in pet dogs: for comparison see dog versus wolf responses in a fairly similar context (Gácsi, Vas, Topál, & Miklósi, ). On the other hand, dogs' behavior in the tug‐of‐war test might be more partner‐specific (i.e., dependent on the experiences of a certain individual).…”

A Test of Canine Olfactory Capacity: Comparing Various Dog Breeds and Wolves in a Natural Detection Task

“…Out of the 13 hand raised and extensively socialized grey wolves (for detailed rearing conditions see [ 27 ]) and 49 dogs that were motivated by the bait, one wolf and seven dogs did not finish all trials of the test (5 x 4 trials). Thus the subjects analyzed in this study were 12 wolves (8 males, 4 females; average age 8 ± 1 years), and 41 adult pet dogs.…”

A test for paedomorphism in domestic pig cranial morphology

“…The paedomorphic hypothesis has largely been based upon studies of canids, whose novel variations in coat colour, reduced aggressiveness, and retention of social bonding and inquisitive behaviours into adulthood are traditionally cited as evidence for paedomorphism [ 9 – 11 ]. In addition, adult dogs possess a relative shortening of the jaw and facial region, and a widening of the palate relative to their wild ancestors [ 12 , 13 ].…”