Aries has tested and approved this study.
The Language of the Dog
The purpose of this
research is to assess how different breeds/categories of dogs give behavioral
cues to their owners to communicate their wants. It is being conducted as part
of Hilary Blair’s work in a graduate program at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
The task should take about five minutes to complete. Your participation is
completely voluntary, and you may stop at any time. Confidentiality and
anonymity of responses will be maintained to the highest degree possible. If
you have any questions, you can contact Hilary Blair at blairhl2@miamioh.edu or
my graduate advisor Ruth Allard at allardr@miamioh.edu . If you have questions or concerns about
the rights of research subjects, you may contact the Research Compliance Office
at Miami University at (513) 529-3600 or humansubjects@miamioh.edu.
Materials Needed: a dog, the dog’s owner (you!), an adult
assistant, a treat/toy known to be appealing to your dog, a small closed-off
room of your house with limited distractions, stopwatch, means to record the
test.
There are two ways you can participate in this study. You
can “Be the Scientist!” or “I want Hilary to do it!” If you choose to “Be the
Scientist!” you will use the attached ethogram to record your dog’s
behavior. If you “want Hilary to do it!”
you will use a video recorder (preferably on a cellphone) and send that video
electronically to Hilary along with your “Introduction” section. Either way, it is short—should take no more
than five minutes to complete—and you get to bond with your dog(s), have fun,
and maybe even learn something about how people and dogs can communicate!
**Note: If you have more than one dog that you would like to
use in this study, please fill out an Introduction sheet and ethogram (or
recorded video) for each dog and be sure to complete the exercise individually.
Introduction
Let’s answer some simple questions to get started –
Name of the subject (your dog):
_____________________________________
Breed of subject (Mixes are great, but please choose what
you think is the dog’s most dominate trait. (I.e. lab mix, beagle mix, etc.)
Also, please indicate if dog is mixed: _______________________________
Age of subject:___________________
If you used a treat or toy: __________________________
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Get your dog’s favorite treat/toy. Something you
know they love.
Step 2: Hand that treat/toy over to the assistant and have
them take the dog into the small room – without you!
Step 3: Have Assistant show the dog the treat/toy, ensuring
that the dog is engaged in the process, then place it somewhere out of the
dog’s reach. (On a shelf, piece of furniture, etc.) Assistant then leaves room.
Step 4: You enter the room as the Assistant exits. (S)he starts
stopwatch and will tell you when thirty seconds has passed.
A) If you “want
Hilary to do it!” enter the room with your video recorder already on and
focused on your dog for the full thirty seconds. Please do not speak to, touch,
or in any way manipulate your dog or the treat/toy until the thirty seconds has
passed and your observations have ended.
B) If you want to “Be
the Scientist!” Enter room with the ethogram (see attached) and pen or pencil.
Carefully observe your dog’s behavior. You will be conducting a continuous
scan, so each time your dog’s behavior changes you will make a mark on the
chart. Please do not speak to, touch, or
in any way manipulate your dog or the treat/toy until the thirty seconds has passed
and your observations have ended.
Example of possible test behavior: You walk into the room.
Your dog looks at you, looks at the object, barks, looks at you, looks at
object, and nudges you with its nose. You are then notified thirty seconds is
up. You should have four marks on your ethogram: two marks for Gaze Alternation
(GA), one for Vocalization (V), and one for Contact (C). If your dog looks at you the whole time with
no other behavior change you would have just one mark on your ethogram for Gaze
Owner (GO).
Step 5: Reward your
dog for doing a great job by giving them the treat or toy.
Step 6: As soon as
you are able after the observation, please send in your results to Hilary at
blairhl2@miamioh.edu or simply reply to this blog posting with your results. You can send the
video, take a digital picture of the ethogram and introduction and send that,
type out your results in an email, or return the sheets in an attachment along
with your responses and observation as well as any questions or comments you
may have had. All results must be
received by October 19.
**Don’t forget, you will want to include: the “Introduction”
questions, your ethogram/video, and optional, but much appreciated, a picture
of your dog(s).
Ethogram
Species:
Domestic
Dog (Canis familiaris)
Method:
Continuous
Sampling
Behavior:
Description:
Gaze
Owner (GO): The dog’s
face (head and nose) were oriented towards the owner
Gaze
Alternation (GA): The dog’s
face (head and nose) alternated between looking at the owner and the object
Vocalization
(V): The dog
whined and/or barked
Contact
(C): The dog
made physical contact with the owner either by nudging, pawing, or by placing
its nose or head upon the owner, or came into any other form of physical
contact with owner
Contact
with Object (CO): The dog made physical contact with the
object the treat/toy was placed upon either by nudging with nose or head, or by
placing paws directly on object
Not Interested (NI): The dog
showed no interest in the treat/toy
Other: Any other
behavior that is not classified on this chart
