[Wasagdu] What does a dog want more, praise or treats
Becky Frankeberger
b.butterfly at comcast.net
Mon Jan 23 18:03:11 UTC 2017
What does a dog want more - "good boy" or treats? (WP Article)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2016/08/17/what-does-a-dog-w
ant-more-good-boy-or-treats/
What does a dog want more - "good boy" or treats?
Aug. 17th, 2016
Sometimes the best dog treats aren't edible.
Every night when I walk my 6-year-old Boxer, he knows exactly what to
expect
once he's unleashed. His tail wags furiously, his body wiggles, and
glistening drops of saliva drip to my kitchen floor.
Then it comes: a high-pitched "good boy" or a pricey, meaty treat.
Typically, Beau gets both.
New research shows that my effort may be overkill.
According to the study, published online in the journal Social, Cognitive
and Affective Neuroscience, more dogs prefer praise over food. The finding
by Emory University neuroscientist Gregory Berns followed a novel method
of
investigation: He used an MRI to scan a dog's brain while the dog was
awake
and unrestrained.
DogPhotoOzzie New research shows that most dogs prefer praise over food,
but
not Ozzie. The short-haired terrier mix was the only dog in the
experiments
to choose food. (Courtesy of Gregory Berns)
The "Dog Project" began five years ago. Berns, the author of "How Dogs
Love
Us: A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Brain," talked to
dozens
of dog owners in the Atlanta area and persuaded some to have their pooch's
brains scanned. The goal was to learn whether food is what dogs "really
care
about," Berns said.
"Is social reward on the same footing as food, or is it potentially more
valuable?" he wondered.
Berns selected dogs that would lie still for 30 minutes while awake and
with
the MRI running. High-energy canines didn't make the cut; couch potatoes
did.
"These are not super-athletic, high-drive dogs," he said. "Lots of
retrievers."
He and his team conducted a trio of experiments with about 15 dogs scanned
each time. Every dog had to go into the MRI and stay in a down position
for
three, 10-minute scans.
In the first experiment, participants were shown a hairbrush, a toy car
and
a toy horse. They were given a hot dog following one object, praise after
another and nothing for the third.
The results showed that for 13 of the 15 dogs, their brains were
stimulated
by the praise just as much, if not more than, the food.
The second experiment sought to confirm the initial pattern. But this
time, a subset of dogs didn't get praised. The results were "almost
identical" when looking at their brain activity, Berns said. "The dogs who
responded more strongly to praise in the first experiment were more
disappointed for not getting praise."
The third experiment took place outside of the MRI to see if the dogs'
response in a maze mirrored that during their MRIs. Once inside the maze,
they had to choose between finding a bowl of food and getting praise from
their owner. Researchers determined that the outcomes of the first two
tests
were a "strong predictor" of a dog's choice.
So what does this mean for the average pet owner?
Ultimately, Berns said this week, the research shows that dogs are
primarily
motivated by praise. That insight can greatly impact how they get trained,
both as pets and potentially as service dogs.
And with many owners today focusing on "positive training," the study
suggests that social rewards are as effective a motivator as food treats,
he
said.
The findings could also help identify which dogs might be most successful
as
service dogs.
"A dog with high preference for social reward might be best suited for
certain therapeutic or assistance jobs," the study notes. "While a dog
with
less of a neural preference for social reward might be better suited for
tasks that require more independence from humans, like search-and-rescue
dogs or hearing-assistance dogs."
How can you tell what your dog prefers without an expensive MRI? "I think
people have an intuition of that," Berns said.
For me, the big takeaway is that I might save a few bucks at the pet store
and potentially make Beau happier just by opening my mouth.
&
Dog prefers owners praise vs food
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/health-science/do-dogs-really-
love-you-for-you-or-just-because-you-feed-them/2016/08/17/4eb6183e-648f-11e6
-b4d8-33e931b5a26d_video.html
_____
Becky Frankeberger
Butterfly Knitting
- Ponchos
- Afghans
- Shawls
- Custom Knitting
360-426-8389
becky at butterflyKnitting.com
www.butterflyknitting.com
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