Vet News Canine envy: Quantifying emotions in dogs
If you know dogs this news will come as no surprise: Dogs are jealous creatures. Toy envy, treat coveting and kibble greed are no strangers to us dog-watchers. But now, researchers in Vienna have confirmed the not-so-surprising phenomenon:
Yes, dogs will fail to obey commands when distracted by the “emotion” conferred by observing another dog get a better deal.
Sausage and bread…you get one, your buddy gets the other. Which dog is likely to be annoyed by his brethren’s haul? Good guess. When the no-treat and sausage inequity was attempted, the well-trained dogs who lost out were even less likely to obey commands.
Though the findings seem obvious to us, the results are not as straightforward as you might suppose. Until now, the only non-humans shown to act on the same primal human notion of “envy” have been some chimpanzees and other (though by no means all) monkeys.
Learning the term used to denote this kind of behavior is enough to have made this New York Times blurb (from Tuesday’s edition) worth reading all by itself. How does “inequity aversion” grab you?
Sometimes I think researchers should take up poetry…I can think of no more descriptive—and hysterical—a term for what many of us see our pets do daily.
My own male Frenchie, a young and rambunctious thing named Vincent, is quite "averse" to the "inequity" posed by the minutest possibility that he might like something his “sister” Sophie Sue receives even better than he likes his. No matter that his dish contains chunks of stewed beef hearts…he’s gotta “swap” with his sister before coming back to his own teeming bowl.
Yes, “inequity aversion” is apropos.
But does such a clinical term ultimately do some disservice to our dogs? After all, those of us who observe dogs all day long are also clued in to a conclusion these researchers are not yet willing to apply to their findings:
Emotions are well within the grasp of our pets. They are capable of a range of feeling, much though its quantification may elude us.
That’s why examining a seemingly automatic negative behavior inherent to pack mechanics—among the ugliest and most senseless of human emotions—seems like an unfair place to start looking for evidence of true feeling in our pets. But then, I guess you could argue that jealousy is as valid a starting place as any other.
What say you?
December 11th, 2008
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Add Comment25 Comments
Research seems to vacilate between stating the obvious and proposing the ridiculous. I assume the underlying experimental report had a rather more nuanced message. It seems to me that this "fairness' and associated feelings og greivance are part of the basic set of mammalian emotions.
vein December 11th, 2008 09:43:03 AM
And here's another one for you to contemplate today on the topic of canine behavior and emotions: A dog in Chile run over by trucks and cars, "rescued" by a nearby dog. Strange and wonderful. Can it be real?
Careful, the video is hard to watch at times, but it's worth it.
Dr. Patty Khuly December 11th, 2008 10:20:48 AM
In my house we have a saying "All toys belong to Annie." It doesn't matter that she didn't show much, if any, interest in a toy (and we offer her first dibs on every new toy - she was our first and is now 14 and seldom plays anymore), if another dog starts playing with a toy, Annie stares then starts mumbling, then barking. She doesn't actually get off the couch to do anything about it, and eventually either she stops or the other dog loses interest in the toy, but the whole process is amusing for us and while we're not sure how to scietifically quantify her behavior, it's obvious to us that she's expressing some emotion!
KateH December 11th, 2008 11:03:15 AM
KateH - same thing in our house. Each cat has chosen their own toys and they don't play with the other ones. But...if the little cat appears to be having way too much fun with her toy, the big cat will chase her away.
We call this 'emotion' being a brat!
2CatMom December 11th, 2008 12:01:07 PM
It doesn't matter how disinterested (and perhaps even annoyed) Thomas might have been when I attempted to engage him in play a few moments ago... the instant one of his 'brothers' takes an interest in the toy, he shoves the other cat out of the way and takes over.
(For this reason, a certain somebody invariably gets relegated to the "kitty playpen" for "snack time" when it's the other cats' turn to play.)
His middle 'brother' Nicholas is fiercely independent, and wants attention on his terms and his terms alone. Most of the time, he does not want to be bothered. Yet, after rebuffing my affections, he will get totally miffed if he catches me giving attention to another cat. He may not want it, but that doesn't mean he's okay with me offering it to somebody else.
Tyson insists on inspecting everybody's food before he eats... despite the fact that he almost always gets something better, as one 'brother' is chubby, and the other one's on prescription food.
Inequity aversion? Absolutely.
Ramen Connoisseur December 11th, 2008 03:18:28 PM
Interesting. I'm thinking about this from a training perspective - When you reward train a dog, you need to have a reward they find valuable. If the reward isn't good enough, it adds no value to the training, and the dog will lose interest. Now, what does the process of this study tell us? It shows that the dogs can make value judgement about rewards... Well, duh! We already knew that. It also shows that dogs can compare their rewards, relative to those of their neighbors - Most of us knew that, too, but it's nice to have it confirmed. But most of all, it shows a basic canine behavior we already know - When the reward isn't good enough, the dog doesn't want to play our game. Now where is the blinding revelation in that? Seems to me that the only thing they've done is tie a string of simple observations into a loop, and call it a conclusion. MM
MaskedMan December 11th, 2008 04:22:18 PM
Yes one might say that Jealousy is truly the root of all driving emotions and/or the most "primitive" :) I see it being the cause of almost every little "tangle" in my doggie daycare and more so in the showring with humans...I think the human behavior/reaction is far more primitive when it comes to jealousy LOL.....I didn't realize you feed raw ?!!! I am somewhat new to your blog so it may be old news. Looks like Vincent loves it ;) --- LC (BARF'er) LOL
LC December 11th, 2008 05:13:11 PM
The study showed that dogs quit doing a behavior if they were not rewarded but another dog gets a reward for doing the same behavior. However, unlike primates, the dogs did not distinguish between the rewards, so if one dog was given bread and another dog was given sausage, both dogs would continue to do the behavior.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7771259.stm
I saw the story about the dog in Chile "rescuing" the dead dog, but I had to wonder if perhaps he might have been retrieving a potential meal rather than saving a friend. If these dogs live on a center median, roadkill might be a significant source of food for them.
Mary Straus December 11th, 2008 05:52:44 PM
Mary said "I saw the story about the dog in Chile "rescuing" the dead dog, but I had to wonder if perhaps he might have been retrieving a potential meal rather than saving a friend. If these dogs live on a center median, roadkill might be a significant source of food for them." OMG you are probably right, I didn't even think of that I got caught up in the "romanticicism" hyped up by the video - hmmm...think I like the "hero" better than "scavenger" story ! LOL
LC December 11th, 2008 07:41:35 PM
While I'll be the first to stand on the side of the anthropomorphism crowd and proudly state that animals are capable of emotions once reserved for humas only, from a behaviourist perspective this could be viewed simply as a survival trait.
The pack leader gets the resources. He/She gets first crack at the best sleeping spots, the best foods, and in the new world of domestication, the best toys and other perceived high-value items.
It could be summed up to the dog simply waiting out the handler - he knows there's a higher value reward available, and being masters of manipulation, could simply be trying to wait out the handler until he ponies up the dough.
I don't know if true behaviourists would contribute it to envy as much as control. Just as studies using rats/mice and light switches, we know that animals just want to be able to control as much of their environment as possible. This drive would naturally be higher in more dominant dogs - illustrated by the case of Annie above.
I'm not arguing that it's NOT an emotional issue - but I'll be interested to see what other behaviourists have to say on the issue. Input/output behaviourists such as Jean Donaldson (who undoubtedly does believe that her dogs have emotions) does to some extent buy into the concept that dogs are input/output machines, shown by her commitment to clicker training. She's an interesting figure in that she sees both sides of the coin fairly clearly... and so I'll reserve judgement on this one until more experts have weighed in.
Incidentally, Dr. K - I'm curious to know what finally brought that chicken wing home to the Frenchies... and your experiences - both good and bad - so far. Any trouble from the rest of the staff yet? ;O)
Either way, happy to see it - and Vincent doesn't look too terribly saddened either. lol
Kim December 11th, 2008 09:04:46 PM
Would love to try giving Socks some raw meat like in the pic. What do you suggest I start with.. Socks hasn't had anything raw.. At what point do I take it away?
barri December 12th, 2008 06:17:36 AM
Funny, I didn't see this turning into a raw disussion but it's appropriate given the photo of Vince and the lamb shank. My dogs get raw once a week. In my area it's hard to find humanely raised meats so I can't afford too many lamb shanks. ;-) They do love it, though, and Vincent's getting better. He's a gulper, though, so I can't give chicken wings or thighs--too scary for me and defies the purpose: a good healthy chewing session. I give larger meaty bones or chicken backs (they get a good chaw in from backs, believe it or not, and it's cheap).
I think feeding raw is safe for adult dogs. Too much is made of the salmonella contamination, IMO. I do prefer to start dogs as adults because of the (relatively minor) possibility of bacterial contamination and the need for a well-developed immune system to handle this risk.
The key is to start with the help of a vet who respects your nutrition choices. Feed a variety. (I supplement with a variety of home-cooked stews and a high quality kibble). And start with lots of meat on the bones to assess your pet's abilities, gulping tendencies and tooth-on-bone technique (as soon as I hear the first evidence of tooth on bone I take the bone away and stew the remainder--I don't need no fractured teeth).
Here's a post on my original take and another on my eventual conversion with some caveats and cautions.
Dr. Patty Khuly December 12th, 2008 08:13:42 AM
Kim: Jean Donaldson sounds like my kind of behaviorist. I'm in her camp. I belive dogs do have emotions--I just don't believe they can be quantified. Human emotions and canine emotions? Different languages. I just don't see how we could ever grasp them in a traditional clinical manner. I intended to convey this message in my post but I see now that I omitted to make the point--and in fact appeared to have come to another conclusion (so much for clarity).
As to jealousy in this case...it can be chalked up to understandable pack behavior--a survival mechanism, though it may be deeper than that as well. Agreed.
Dr. Patty Khuly December 12th, 2008 08:19:57 AM
Love this post. You always find very interesting things to bring to our attention. I've managed to bring this up at least 3 times in convesation since you posted it and the response is always observational agreement from the other dog folks who I've been talking to.
Some things seem so obvious after they have a name and this is one of them.
Christopher December 12th, 2008 04:37:18 PM
Dr. Patricia McConnell (behaviorist and dog trainer) writes about jealousy in her book "For the Love of a Dog: understanding emotion in you and your best friend". I don't have the book in front of me, but she definitely believes dogs can be jealous, and states that jealousy can be found in very young children, and can be summed up as "You have it, I don't, and I'm not happy about that." Super book, BTW. Scientific but readable. Last night, our dog was sleeping on the couch next to my husband. I was at a nearby table, working on my laptop. When the cat came by, looking for attention, I scooped him into my lap. The dog immediately set up a piteous whine, and I had to ask my husband to pet her. Spoiled? for sure. Jealous? Sure looks like it.
lin December 12th, 2008 06:54:45 PM
I have long believed that the reason dogs are so well integrated with humans is because their emotional make-up is so similar. Pack behavior is real in both species.
MLO December 12th, 2008 09:42:23 PM
We give out treats to our dogs by first calling out the name then giving them the treat. This helps eliminate fights. We try to do several rounds and try to do it in the same order each time, giving it to the slowest eater first. If we get out of the order, the dog who lost out will bark or jump up.
PaulaO December 15th, 2008 04:55:57 PM
Just learned that one of the dogs used in this study was a Border Collie.
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2008/12/12/VI2008121202241.html?sid=ST2008121402445">Video of the experiment</a>. yay!
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