Dogs

RESEARCH IN DOGS

Much of my work is centered around the study of domestic dogs, especially in relation to the wolf.

WHY?

One of my aims is to investigate the evolution of different cognitive processes. The comparative approach includes the study of a variety of animal species. Although much work has been done with the great apes, I am interested in dogs. For a number of reasons, the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) is a very interesting model for investigating different questions regarding the evolution of cognitive abilities. The fact that dogs have been living with humans for at least 15.000 years may have led to the selection of cognitive abilities by humans or even the co-evolution of dogs’ cognitive abilities with those of humans. We know from different studies that dogs are sensitive to the attentional state of humans. We also know that dogs understand communicative cues. Those abilities have not been found in nonhuman primates and wolves.

Of course, much of our understanding of dogs appears to be clouded by cultural baggage and historical practice. In any attempt to advance our understanding of canid cognition we need to be conscious of the risks and limitations of adopting anthro- pocentric and anthropomorphic approaches, whilst being mindful of the potentially positive outcomes in applying conditional anthropomorphism and cognitive ethology approaches. This is especially important when communication ideas to lay practitioners in attempts to stimulate change in dog training and management practices.

One area, which could be considered unhelpful in advancing our knowledge of canid learning is investigation of comparative intellect. This could be considered irrelevant as all extant species are the pinnacle of evolution in their own ecological niche, and the human view of intelligence is prejudiced towards humans and higher primates.