Paws and Perception: How Human and Dog Factors Shape Behavior

May 13, 2024 rmpark 4-min. read

Would your dog like to play fun cognitive games and eat lots of yummy treats in the interest of science? The Thinking Pets Program is looking for participants for a new research study exploring dog and human factors that may influence behavior.

Description

There are many potential factors that may influence a dog’s behavior. NC State University College of Veterinary Medicine Thinking Pets Program is now enrolling dogs and their owners for a new research study exploring dog and human factors that may influence dog behavior. We hope to use what we learn to improve how we care for our four legged friends!

Owners who choose to participate with their dog will bring their dog for a single day study visit to the NC State Veterinary College. Dogs can be dropped off to spend a day at the university with our research team. Throughout the day, dogs will participate in multiple learning games (all involving yummy treats, of course!). At pick up, owners will be asked to fill out questionnaires and participate in a short, interactive behavior test with their dog.

Eligibility

We are enrolling two different populations of dogs and their owners to participate in this study. Your dog may be eligible if your dog is healthy and free from pain OR if your dog is scheduled for TPLO surgery. All dogs must be at least two years old to participate. Owners must be at least 18 years old, and willing to bring their dog in for a single day visit to the NC State Veterinary College.

Eligibility survey for TPLO dogs – Internal

Eligibility survey for healthy dogs

Eligibility survey for TPLO dogs – External

Meet & Greet Visits

We have found that some dogs may not be a good fit for the study so we created an option for Meet & Greet visits! These are 45-minute or shorter appointments that can be utilized for local owners as a way to determine if your dog is comfortable with the research team and will be able to complete the study and receive the full participation benefit.

During a Meet & Greet visit, we will bring your dog back into one of our research spaces and give them yummy treats / let them have some play time to see if they warm up to us. We want to ensure that they are comfortable being handled by our research team, and are “okay” with the sound that the clippers make.

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Study Benefits

FREE bandana
FREE dog toy
A puppy report card to take home detailing their day at the university!
BONUS: If your dog is scheduled to receive TPLO surgery with the NC State Orthopedic Surgery Service and participates in this study, your postsurgical (8 week re-check) radiographs and sedation fees will be covered by the study! If your dog is scheduled to receive TPLO surgery with an external surgery provider, you will receive a $200 gift card.

Participation Includes:

For this task, we will shave an approximately 1″ by 1″ inch patch of hair on your dog’s back leg where we will apply our thermal probe. As soon as your pup responds to the stimulus, the encounter is stopped and we move on to the next test. We are recording how long your dog tolerates the stimulus with cut-off’s in place (in case your dog tries to display a super-dog tolerance!). These procedures are performed in the same manner as they are in people. For this study, we are interested in learning if dogs can demonstrate spatial awareness and distinguish color cues using sensitivity tests.

In this task, we’ll find out if your dog makes optimistic or pessimistic judgements using treat availability. This is assessed through a series of trials in which a food bowl with or without treats is presented to your dog, and we’re interested in the time it takes them to approach and claim their yummy treat!

This task will help us learn more about how your dog problem solves and what they do when there is no ‘solution’ to their problem. The problem is they can’t get to a treat! (Don’t worry, we give it to them in the end!)

Owners, we will need your help for this task! When you return to pick up your dog, we will ask that you help us complete this behavior test. With you standing next to them, we will show them a novel object and measure how they respond. Do they look to you for information or forge ahead on their own?

Our study veterinarian will conduct a quick, routine exam. The results from our exams will be shared with you and your referring veterinarian. We are video recording these exam encounters to look at your dog’s behavior.

We will ask you to complete questionnaires about yourself, your dog, and your relationship with your dog.

All behavioral testing is voluntary meaning that dogs may choose not to participate in any task at any time. Our goal is always to make sure your dog is happy and comfortable and ensure they associate the CVM with lots of fun, happy things!