Journal of Environmental Science International (한국환경과학회지)

The Korean Environmental Sciences Society (한국환경과학회)
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Changes in Dogs' Social Behavior Toward Humans

  • Received : 2022.01.04
  • Accepted : 2022.02.28
  • Published : 2022.03.31
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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate dogs' sociality toward human strangers in the absence of an owner by analyzing changes in dogs' behavior during a task of making eye contact with an experimenter to obtain snacks. A total of 17 dogs were divided into groups of high sociality (HS; n = 10, 4.4 ± 3.87 years) and low-sociality (LS; n = 7, 3.71 ± 2.06 years). A comparison of the average frequency of five behavioral types-fear-appeasement behaviors (P<0.001), sociability-related behaviors (P<0.001), stress-related behaviors (P<0.05), destruction (P < 0.001), and vocalization (P < 0.001)-between the groups showed a significant difference in all five categories. Together, these results suggest that dogs with high sociality are less exposed to various stresses and have a higher ability to adapt to new environments than dogs with low sociality. This can predict dogs' adaptability to a new environment and positive outcomes in their daily life with the owner.

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References

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