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Ask Yvette

Once in a while, something catches my eye that I personally feel is captivating. Now, I'm not naïve. I know that some of the things that I find interesting are odd. One topic that personally strikes my fancy are well conceived experiments that give us information about the way different species of animals think and behave.

Even more fascinating to me are experiments that help us understand dogs. I practically dance when I hear that someone has finally stepped into the realm of researching dogs. When it's local, well, it just doesn't get any better for me.

Before I get hate mail from activists on the evils of animal experimentation, let me clarify what I get so excited about.

Experiments in learning, memory and behavior are often designed using food. The tests are carefully orchestrated so we can learn about how animals react without causing them harm. Those are the experiments that I love because I just don't see a down side. We learn more about the companion animals that share our lives, so we can teach them better and we all win.

Generally, I find that researchers look for dog owners to help. Those dogs participate and continue to live in the comfort of their own home.

So you can just imagine how tickled pick I was to learn that a researcher at the University of Western Ontario by the name of Krista MacPherson is working in canine cognition studies. Her work is local, dog oriented and positive.

One of the reasons I really enjoy seeing dog studies is because they are frankly lacking. For decades, it has been painfully common to hear people say, “Because wolves behave a certain way, we treat dogs similarly.” It's a leap of faith that I feel may be a bit over exaggerated. It's possibly not much different from; “Humans are similar genetically to chimps, so we should treat our children like monkeys.” See the stretch?

Each piece of knowledge gained actually looking how dogs learn and behave is another step toward gathering an accurate picture of what dogs really are. If dogs cannot naturally learn a task, then we no longer get into battles expecting the impossible. We see how much they are capable of, and what they are not capable of. Given that dogs have lived with us for thousands of years, it's about time someone takes the time to learn about them.

Krista has been involved in other studies that have been published, but let me describe the latest undertaking. The researchers have built an enormous radial maze. A radial maze is a star shaped maze that is commonly used in lab tests. But this one is large enough so dogs can move through it.

Dogs are placed in the maze, and their ability to use different memory skills are timed and tested. I personally found the dog's responses incredibly fascinating.
As with all studies, the more participants you have, the better the results. There's no pain involved, only good fun and good science.

Every piece of knowledge that researchers like Krista can compile gives us insight into the animals that share our lives, our homes and our hearts.

Yvette is an award winning pet writer and pet behavior columnist. She also is the author of Meeting Milo, a North American dog bite prevention program to reduce the approximately 2 million children bit by dogs annually. She is the owner of AwesomeDogs.ca and works as a behavior consultant in London, Ontario.

This column was originally featured in The Londoner
See more of Yvette... www.awesomedogs.ca
www.meetingmilo.com

Yvette has 2 dogs of her own, KIKI and KAYA. Take a look...

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