{"title":"Familiar Dog or Familiar Person: Who Do Pet Dogs Best Synchronize with?","authors":"Angélique Lamontagne, Thierry Legou, Marine Brunel, Thierry Bedossa, Florence Gaunet","doi":"10.3390/ani15040505","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Behavioural synchronization in dogs has been examined separately at intraspecific and interspecific levels. This study is the first to compare dogs' behavioural synchronization and gaze behaviour when with a familiar person (with FP) compared to a familiar dog (with FD), while walking in an outdoor environment. Twenty dogs were observed under the two experimental conditions. We hypothesized that dogs would demonstrate stronger location and activity synchronization with an FD than with an FP due to similar locomotor patterns, while showing greater gaze attention towards the FP compared to the FD. Our hypothesis was partially confirmed. The results revealed a significantly shorter distance between dogs and the FD than between dogs and the FP. Dogs exhibited a smaller speed difference with the FD than with the FP, but only if they did not cohabit with other dogs. No significant differences were observed in body alignment or gaze behaviour between the two experimental conditions. Our results point to behavioural synchronization as a new instance of evolutionary convergence, as well as daily experiences, here cohabiting with other dogs, as a factor influencing dogs' ability to synchronize with individuals from different species. This study enhances our understanding of canine cognition in conspecific versus heterospecific contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":7955,"journal":{"name":"Animals","volume":"15 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11852022/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Animals","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15040505","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Behavioural synchronization in dogs has been examined separately at intraspecific and interspecific levels. This study is the first to compare dogs' behavioural synchronization and gaze behaviour when with a familiar person (with FP) compared to a familiar dog (with FD), while walking in an outdoor environment. Twenty dogs were observed under the two experimental conditions. We hypothesized that dogs would demonstrate stronger location and activity synchronization with an FD than with an FP due to similar locomotor patterns, while showing greater gaze attention towards the FP compared to the FD. Our hypothesis was partially confirmed. The results revealed a significantly shorter distance between dogs and the FD than between dogs and the FP. Dogs exhibited a smaller speed difference with the FD than with the FP, but only if they did not cohabit with other dogs. No significant differences were observed in body alignment or gaze behaviour between the two experimental conditions. Our results point to behavioural synchronization as a new instance of evolutionary convergence, as well as daily experiences, here cohabiting with other dogs, as a factor influencing dogs' ability to synchronize with individuals from different species. This study enhances our understanding of canine cognition in conspecific versus heterospecific contexts.
AnimalsAgricultural and Biological Sciences-Animal Science and Zoology
CiteScore
4.90
自引率
16.70%
发文量
3015
审稿时长
20.52 days
期刊介绍:
Animals (ISSN 2076-2615) is an international and interdisciplinary scholarly open access journal. It publishes original research articles, reviews, communications, and short notes that are relevant to any field of study that involves animals, including zoology, ethnozoology, animal science, animal ethics and animal welfare. However, preference will be given to those articles that provide an understanding of animals within a larger context (i.e., the animals'' interactions with the outside world, including humans). There is no restriction on the length of the papers. Our aim is to encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical research in as much detail as possible. Full experimental details and/or method of study, must be provided for research articles. Articles submitted that involve subjecting animals to unnecessary pain or suffering will not be accepted, and all articles must be submitted with the necessary ethical approval (please refer to the Ethical Guidelines for more information).