Research Examines How Dog Breed Affects Communication with Humans

Petra Dobos, a graduate student at Eötvös Loránd University, and Dr. Péter Pongrácz, an associate professor in the Department of Ethology, investigated the responses of different dog breeds to attention-capturing speech, known as ostensive communication. This includes phrases such as "hey, pup" and "watch me," which signal that the conversation is directed toward the dog. Dobos notes that humans often use a higher intonation when speaking to dogs, similar to how they speak to infants.

Dr. Pongrácz references a 2009 study by Dr. József Topál and colleagues that established dogs' sensitivity to these verbal cues, contrasting them with their wild ancestors, wolves. The prevailing view among researchers has been that dogs are inherently more attuned to ostensive communication compared to wolves, making this communication adaptive for achieving tasks with human assistance.

However, the authors recognized the diversity among dog breeds in terms of behavior as well as size. In their study published in BMC Biology, they focused on two categories: cooperative breeds, which rely on human guidance, and independent breeds, which do not. They categorized breeds by their development for specific tasks, such as herding or hunting.

Cooperative breeds included Border Collies and Labrador Retrievers, while independent breeds featured Siberian Huskies and Dachshunds. To evaluate the response of these breeds, Dobos devised a detour task where dogs needed to navigate around a V-shaped fence to reach a reward placed inside the angle.

Initially, Dobos gained the dogs' attention and placed a reward behind the fence, allowing them 60 seconds to retrieve it by detouring. In subsequent trials, she used ostensive communication or delivered a monotone poem while demonstrating the task.

While both groups initially performed similarly in the first trial, cooperative breeds improved their detour times over successive trials, unlike independent breeds. Notably, cooperative dogs responded well to both ostensive communication and monotone speech, indicating that they were generally more engaged and could learn from the demonstrations despite the quality of the speech.

This finding challenged the assumption that dogs require ostensive communication for effective learning. Dr. Pongrácz noted that cooperative dogs seem to have an intrinsic interest in human activity, responding even to minimal verbal cues. The study also found that dogs observed Dobos longer when she used ostensive speech, particularly among cooperative breeds.

Dobos highlights the implications of this research for dog training, emphasizing that understanding breed sensitivity to communication can enhance training effectiveness. She stresses that while independent dogs can potentially learn to respond to ostensive cues, they may require more effort and engaging methods to gain their attention. Dr. Pongrácz suggests tailoring reinforcement strategies to a dog’s heritage, mentioning that independent dogs may respond better to food rewards than verbal praise.