Let me sniff! Nosework induces positive judgment bias in pet dogs
Let me sniff! Nosework induces positive judgment bias in pet dogs
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DOI：
10.1016/j.applanim.2018.12.009
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发表时间：
2019-02-01
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Horowitz, A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Duranton, C.;Horowitz, A.
当面对一个模糊的刺激时，一个人对这种情况的感知和行为会受到情绪状态的影响。在新的情况下，积极的情绪状态会导致乐观的反应;消极的情绪状态会导致悲观的反应。这种现象与福利有关，并且通过认知偏差测试在人类和其他动物中得到了充分的研究。该测试通常用于应用动物行为学，特别是圈养动物，并评估动物的情绪状态以评估其福利。然而，有一个物种经常被遗忘在“圈养动物”的类别中：家犬。宠物狗可以被认为是“圈养”，因为它们不能选择自己的日常活动;它们通常也没有机会表达为它们的福利所必需的自然行为，如嗅觉觅食行为。在这项研究中，我们测试了基于嗅觉的活动对宠物狗情绪状态的影响。首先对狗进行认知偏差测试，然后每天进行指定的活动，持续两周，最后再次进行认知偏差测试。两组之间进行的活动不同：实验组的狗练习鼻子，对照组的狗练习脚跟。结果表明，实验组狗接近模糊刺激的潜伏期在治疗后显著下降，而对照组狗的潜伏期没有变化。我们的结论是，让狗花更多的时间使用他们的嗅觉通过定期鼻子活动，使他们更加乐观。通过让狗有更多的“觅食”时间，它们的福利得到了改善。讨论了宠物狗在日常生活中的应用。
When confronted with an ambiguous stimulus, an individual's perception of and behaviour towards the situation are affected by emotional states. In a new situation, positive emotional states lead to optimistic reactions; negative emotional states, to pessimistic reactions. This phenomenon is related to welfare and is well-studied in humans and other animals via the cognitive bias test. This test is often used in applied ethology, especially for captive animals, and assesses the emotional state of animals to evaluate their welfare. However, one species is often forgotten in that category of "captive animals": domestic dogs. Pet dogs can be considered "captive" insofar as they cannot choose their daily activities; nor do they generally have the opportunity to express the natural behaviors necessary for their welfare such as olfactory foraging behaviour. In this study, we tested the effect of an olfaction-based activity on pet dogs' emotional states. Dogs were first given a cognitive bias test, then practiced a daily, specified activity for two weeks, and finally were given a cognitive bias test again. The activity conducted differed between the groups: dogs from the experimental group practiced nosework, and dogs from the control group practiced heelwork. Results show that the latency to approach the ambiguous stimulus declined significantly after treatment in the experimental group, whereas the latency did not change for dogs in the control group. We conclude that allowing dogs to spent more time using their olfaction through a regular nosework activity makes them more optimistic. By allowing dogs more "foraging" time, their welfare is improved. Applications for pet dogs in daily life are discussed.