Longitudinal Cognitive and Emotional Development in Working Dogs

摘要 越来越多的临床研究表明，服务犬和伴侣犬可以有一个 对儿童、青少年和成年人的身心健康产生重大积极影响 残疾。不幸的是，服务犬的供应有限， 这种供应是有限的。主要的限制是50-70%的繁殖狗的损耗率， 被饲养和训练成为伴侣或服务性动物。高流失率使得 这些动物价格昂贵，导致需要的人排起了长长的等候名单。有明确 需要进行系统的研究，以帮助确定为什么有些狗是成功的， 有些则不然，这就导致了更多的合格狗的供应，以满足需求。一 在过去的十年里，我们对狗认知的理解发生了革命性的变化， 我们小组以前的工作将认知和情感方面的个体差异联系起来， 对成年工作犬表现的反应。我们建议将联合收割机的资源 杜克犬认知中心，北卡罗来纳州兽医学院和 犬独立伴侣（CCI），以描述 认知和情感特征，我们以前的工作已经表明，预测成功的， 服务犬首先，我们将详细说明这些认知特征，以及它们的生理特征， 相关，在CCI犬中使用纵向设计在关键期内发展， 8-20周龄的大脑发育。第二，我们将测试 不同的，但共同的服务犬饲养策略，这些技能，通过测试CCI 在人类家庭中饲养的小狗或与大学同龄人一起饲养的小狗 校园在研究服务犬的认知能力和情绪反应时， 将更好地了解什么心理机制（S）成功 服务犬在帮助人类时依赖或受到限制。然后我们可以使用这个 信息，以更好地预测哪些小狗将是成功的服务犬-改善 成功的训练，同时增加潜在的服务犬的数量。

Abstract Increasingly, clinical studies show that service and companion dogs can have a significant positive impact on children, adolescents, and adults with physical and mental disabilities. Unfortunately, there is a finite supply of service dogs and the growth potential of this supply is limited. The main limitation is the 50-70% attrition rate of dogs bred, raised and trained to be companion or service animals. The high attrition rate makes these animals costly and leads to long waiting lists of those in need. There is a clear need for systematic research that helps identify why some dogs are successful while some are not, that then leads to a larger supply of certified dogs to meet the demand. A revolution in our understanding of dog cognition has occurred in the past decade, with previous work by our group linking individual differences in cognition and emotional reactivity to working dog performance in adults. We propose to combine the resources of the Duke Canine Cognition Center, the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine and Canine Companion for Independence (CCI) to characterize the development of the cognitive and emotional traits that our previous work have shown predict success in service dogs. First, we will detail how these cognitive traits, and their physiologic correlates, develop in CCI dogs using a longitudinal design during the critical period of brain development from 8-20 weeks of age. Second, we will test for the influence of different but common service dog rearing strategies on these skills by testing CCI puppies being reared in human homes or together with same age peers on a college campus. In studying the cognitive abilities and emotional reactivity of service dogs we will develop a better understanding of what psychological mechanism(s) successful service dogs rely on or are constrained by when helping humans. We can then use this information to better predict which puppies will be successful service dogs – improving the success of training while increasing the potential number of service dogs available.