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Dog Owners Love Pets More than Family
May 05, 2008 10:11 AM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
An Ohio study shows some dog lovers are more attached to dogs than to family. But do our dogs love us back?
30-Second Summary
A research study at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, showed that some dog lovers feel more attached to their dogs than to their dads.
But the feeling might not be mutual. Lilia Toth, an ethologist at Hungary's Eotvos Lorand University, published a study in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Science showing that dogs are receptive to play regardless of which human is offering the invitation. The study raises the question: Are our dogs really loyal?
Lisa Peterson, an American Kennel Club spokesperson, isn’t surprised by dogs’ eagerness to play. “[D]ogs hooked up with humans some 15,000 years ago by pleasing us in exchange for food,” Peterson said. “They are motivated to play and to please, and these drives appear to be stronger than some of their other urges now.”
Fred Metzger, a lecturer at Penn State University and veterinarian proposes that giving your dog to your similarly loving neighbor would make little difference to the dog: “I believe our dogs would adapt to the new life and would become as loyal to the neighbor as they were to us.”
Those living in Edinburgh, Scotland familiar with the story of “Greyfriar’s Bobby” would undoubtedly disagree with Metzger. A statue to one of the world’s most loyal dogs—a Skye terrier named Bobby—still guards the cemetery where his master and he are buried.
But the feeling might not be mutual. Lilia Toth, an ethologist at Hungary's Eotvos Lorand University, published a study in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Science showing that dogs are receptive to play regardless of which human is offering the invitation. The study raises the question: Are our dogs really loyal?
Lisa Peterson, an American Kennel Club spokesperson, isn’t surprised by dogs’ eagerness to play. “[D]ogs hooked up with humans some 15,000 years ago by pleasing us in exchange for food,” Peterson said. “They are motivated to play and to please, and these drives appear to be stronger than some of their other urges now.”
Fred Metzger, a lecturer at Penn State University and veterinarian proposes that giving your dog to your similarly loving neighbor would make little difference to the dog: “I believe our dogs would adapt to the new life and would become as loyal to the neighbor as they were to us.”
Those living in Edinburgh, Scotland familiar with the story of “Greyfriar’s Bobby” would undoubtedly disagree with Metzger. A statue to one of the world’s most loyal dogs—a Skye terrier named Bobby—still guards the cemetery where his master and he are buried.
Headline Links: We love our dogs, but do they love us?
Larry Kurdek’s study of 111 college students’ feelings of attachment to their dogs was published in April’s Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. His research is rooted in personal experience: After being diagnosed with colon cancer, Kurdek said he felt a sense of support from his two cocker spaniels.
Source: Leader Post (Canada)
Lilia Toth’s study measured fear, avoidance, aggression, and “play bows”—the crouching, head-high, tail-wagging position a dog takes when wanting to play—found that dogs were eager to play with anyone, not just their owners. But how much play the dogs engaged in depended on how much fear they felt and how motivated they were. Female dogs were more hesitant than males.
Source: Discovery magazine
Metzger said, “Dogs probably don't feel love in the typical way humans do. Dogs make investments in human beings because it works for them. The more 'cute factor' they give us, the more we feel like they love us. This makes it more likely that we will give them more attention … "
Source: Penn State University
Despite what research may say about dogs and loyalty, a Skye terrier in Edinburgh Scotland dubbed “Greyfriar’s Bobby” remained devoted to his owner, a policeman, even after the man’s death. For 14 years, Bobby guarded the cemetery where his owner was buried, leaving only to get food and to “toilet.”
Source: The BBC
Background: Understanding the “play bow”
Mark Bekoff, an ethologist at the University of Colorado who studies dogs, wolves, and other canines, hit upon the concept of fair play. While Bekoff isn’t suggesting that dog’s have the same “ethical sense” as humans, the “play bow”—where a dog crouches on his back legs, keeping his head up—functions as a litmus test for fair play. If a coyote wants to play and then begins to fight or mate, other coyotes will learn not to engage. "It would be bad evolutionary biology, to assume that moral behavior just pops on the scene only with us.”
Source: Time magazine
Related Topics: Dogs replaced by robots; new device translates dog language
A study compared the effect of a robot dog, AIBO, and a real, trained therapy dog named Sparky on elderly people in a retirement home. Most of the subjects petted Sparky and shared life stories right away. After their initial hesitation, subjects also petted and talked to AIBO.
Source: Dallas News
In 2001, Patricia Simonet of Sierra Nevada College in Lake Tahoe used a recording of a dog’s laugh a long exhale that sounds like a pant, in a lab, and elicited playful behavior from the 15 puppies that heard it. Many of the puppies picked up a toy and brought it towards whatever subject was present.
Source: Science News
For more about dog language see finding Dulcinea’s article, “Dog Translator Turns Woof into Words.
Source: findingDulcinea
For more about dog care see findingDulcinea’s Dog Care Web Guide.
Source: findingDulcinea
© 2010 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
