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Publication
Puppies in the problem-solving paradigm: quick males and social females
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
We report an observational, double-blind study that examined puppies’ behaviors while engaged in solving an experimental
food retrieval task (food retrieval task instrument: FRTI). The experimental setting included passive social distractors (i.e., the
dog’s owner and a stranger). The focus was on how the social and physical environment shapes puppies’ behaviors according
to sex. The dependent variables were the number of tasks solved on an apparatus (Performance Index) and the time required
to solve the frst task (Speed). Sex and Stress were set as explanatory factors, and Social Interest, FRTI interactions, other
behavior, and age as covariates. The main fndings were that male puppies solved the frst task faster than females. On the
other hand, females displayed signifcantly more social interest and did so more rapidly than males. Males showed delayed
task resolution. This study demonstrates sex diferences in a problem-solving task in dog puppies for the frst time, thus
highlighting that sexually dimorphic behavioral diferences in problem-solving strategies develop early on during ontogenesis.
Description
Keywords
Animal cognition Dogs Problem-solving Puppies Sex diferences
Citation
Pinelli, C., Scandurra, A., Di Lucrezia, A., D, A. B., Aria, M., & Semin, G. R. (2022). Puppies in the problem-solving paradigm: quick males and social females. Animal Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-022-01714-5
Publisher
Springer Verlag