Home Sweet Home: The Impact of Lifestyle on a Cat’s Approach to Impossible Tasks in the Home Environment

: Cat welfare is a topic of growing interest in the scientific literature. Although previous studies have focused on the effects of living style (i.e., indoor/outdoor) on cat welfare, there has been a noticeable dearth of analysis regarding the impact of lifestyle on cats' inclination and mode of communication with humans. Our research aimed to analyze the possible effect of lifestyle (e.g., living indoors only or indoor/outdoor) on cat-human communication. The cats were tested using the impossible task paradigm test, which consists of some solvable trials in which the subject learns to obtain a reward from an apparatus, followed by an impossible trial through blocking the apparatus. This procedure triggers a violation of expectations and is considered a useful tool for assessing both the decision-making process and the tendency to engage in social behaviors towards humans. A specific ethogram was followed to record the behavioral responses of the cats during the unsolvable trial. Our results show the effects of lifestyle and age on domestic cats, providing valuable insights into the factors that influence their social behaviors. Cats that can roam freely outdoors spent less time interacting with the apparatus compared to indoor-only cats. Additionally, roaming cats showed stress behaviors sooner following the expectancy of violation compared to indoor cats. The lifestyle of cats can influence their problem-solving approach while not affecting their willingness to interact with humans or their overall welfare. Future studies on this topic can be useful for improving the welfare of domestic cats

The vomeronasal organ: A neglected organ

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Serum Oxytocin in Cows Is Positively Correlated with Caregiver Interactions in the Impossible Task Paradigm

SIMPLE SUMMARY: A possible relationship between circulating hormones (e.g., oxytocin and cortisol) and social behaviors toward humans in cows was studied using the impossible task paradigm test. Serum oxytocin levels correlated positively with the duration and negatively correlated with the latency of the cows’ social interactions with the caregiver. The implications of these findings for productivity as well as for animal welfare can be numerous and worth further investigation. ABSTRACT: This study explored a possible relationship between the circulating oxytocin, cortisol, and the willingness of dairy cows to engage in social behaviors with humans in an experimental context. The behaviors of twenty-nine cows were recorded during the impossible task paradigm, a procedure aimed at creating a violation of expectancy, in the presence of the caregiver and a stranger. The results showed that serum oxytocin levels were positively correlated with duration and negatively correlated with the latency of the cows’ social interactions with the caregiver. This research provides a clear correlation between circulating oxytocin and a willingness to engage in social contact with the caregiver, excluding the possible effect of different cortisol levels on such behavior

Effects of a Nutritional Supplement (DìRelaxTM) on Anxiety in Dogs in a Randomized Control Trial Design

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The effects of a nutraceutical product, DìRelax(TM), were tested in a cohort of anxious dogs by the C-BARQ questionnaire to assess the presence of problematic behaviors, and by the impossible task paradigm, an experimental procedure to explore dogs’ cognitive performance following an expectancy frustration. Hematological and biochemical analyses showed no adverse effects. The treatment with DìRelax(TM) showed a positive effect on the dog’s performances, with some of the behaviors appearing improved. The results suggested that DiRelax(TM) may have some ameliorative effect on the cognitive performances of anxious dogs. ABSTRACT: This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of DìRelax(TM), a nutraceutical formulated to reduce anxiety in dogs, using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design. The C-BARQ questionnaire, some clinical investigations, and the impossible task test were performed in dogs before and after treatment. The C-BARQ questionnaire is particularly useful for assessing the frequency and severity of problematic behaviors. The impossible task paradigm provides insight into the decision-making processes in the realm of expectancy frustration. Results showed an ameliorative effect on the performances of treated dogs during the solvable phases, with a significant decrease in the time needed to solve the task. No behavioral difference was found between treated and untreated anxious dogs during the unsolvable phase. According to the results from the C-BARQ questionnaire, some of the behaviors appeared to improve. Clinical investigations, including a complete blood cell count and blood chemistry, showed no difference between groups, thus suggesting the safety of the product. In general, this study suggests that DìRelax(TM) can be safely administered with no adverse effects and can exercise a beneficial effect on anxious dogs by enhancing their cognitive abilities, but further studies should investigate the best method of administration

Serum Oxytocin in Cows Is Positively Correlated with Caregiver Interactions in the Impossible Task Paradigm

This study explored a possible relationship between the circulating oxytocin, cortisol, and the willingness of dairy cows to engage in social behaviors with humans in an experimental context. The behaviors of twenty-nine cows were recorded during the impossible task paradigm, a procedure aimed at creating a violation of expectancy, in the presence of the caregiver and a stranger. The results showed that serum oxytocin levels were positively correlated with duration and negatively correlated with the latency of the cows’ social interactions with the caregiver. This research provides a clear correlation between circulating oxytocin and a willingness to engage in social contact with the caregiver, excluding the possible effect of different cortisol levels on such behavior

Ontogenetic effects on gazing behaviour: a case study of kennel dogs (Labrador Retrievers) in the impossible task paradigm

Life experiences and living conditions can influence the problem-solving strategies and the communicative abilities of dogs with humans. The goals of this study were to determine any behavioural differences between Labrador Retrievers living in a kennel and those living in a house as pets and to assess whether kennel dogs show preferences in social behaviours for their caretaker relative to a stranger when they are faced with an unsolvable task. Nine Labrador Retrievers living in a kennel from birth and ten Labrador Retrievers living in a family as pets were tested. The experimental procedure consisted of three “solvable” tasks in which the dogs could easily retrieve food from a container followed by an “unsolvable” task in which the container was hermetically locked. Dogs of both groups spent the same amount of time interacting with the experimental apparatus. Kennel dogs gazed towards people for less time and with higher latency than pet dogs; however, there were no significant preferences in gazing towards the stranger versus the caretaker in both groups. These findings demonstrated that kennel dogs are less prone to use human-directed gazing behaviour when they are faced with an unsolvable problem, taking the humans into account to solve a task less than do the pet dogs

The Begging Strategy of Andean Dogs: An Exploratory Study

In this study, we report a particular begging strategy by Andean dogs and by humans on the unsurfaced road between the villages of Parotani and Cahiuasi in Bolivia. The positions of the dogs and humans begging and their behavioral displays were recorded. In dogs, the distance from each other was also recorded. Begging locations, for both dogs and humans, were permuted with a score, according to the higher probability of receiving food. The highest scores were assigned to the positions where cars had to slow down and the subjects were well visible, thus meriting a score corresponding to the higher probability of receiving a treat. The occurrences of the correct positioning at the external and internal parts of the bend were compared by a chi-square test. On a range of 93.3 km, the dogs were observed to always lie down at the border of the road, mainly alone (96.3%) and on hairpin bends, present due to the steep slope, obliging the vehicles to slow down. Humans were observed mainly in groups. The percentage of dogs lying on the external part of the bends was 81.2%, which was above the level of chance (p p < 0.001)

Social referencing: Water rescue trained dogs are less affected than pet dogs by the stranger’s message

Recent studies provide evidence of social referencing in dog–human interactions indicating that dogs use the emotional information provided by a human informant about a novel object/stimulus to guide their own behaviour towards it. Water rescue training is a type of educational activity aimed at creating human–dog dyads specialized in rescuing people who are drowning. A central aspect of the training programme is to strengthen the dogowner bond whilst at the same time engendering in dogs a strong positive attitude towards strangers. In this study 11 water rescue dogs with the SICS Water Rescue Certificate® (Water rescue trained group) were tested and compared with 11 pet dogs (Pet group) of the same breed in a Social referencing paradigm, to assess the potential influence of the specific training received by water rescue dogs on referential looking and behavioural regulation with a stranger acting as the informant. Almost all pet and water rescue trained dogs showed referential looking towards the stranger, however only pet dogs approached the object more, following the stranger’s positive emotional message (p = 0.03). Results provide further evidence that Social Referencing occurs in dogs even when the human informant is an unfamiliar person. Furthermore, they suggest that the specific training experience of water rescue trained dogs affected their reaction to the stranger’s message, reducing their inclination to follow it when compared to pet dogs