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. 2022 Dec;25(6):1479-1491.
doi: 10.1007/s10071-022-01629-1. Epub 2022 May 17.

Development of the dog executive function scale (DEFS) for adult dogs

Maike Foraita  1 , Tiffani Howell  2 , Pauleen Bennett  2
Affiliations

Development of the dog executive function scale (DEFS) for adult dogs

Maike Foraita et al. Anim Cogn. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Executive functions (EFs) are cognitive processes that are used to effortfully self-regulate behaviour and might be important for dogs' success in working and pet roles. Currently, studies are assessing dogs' EF skills through often laborious cognitive measures, leading to small sample sizes and lacking measures of reliability. A complementary method is needed. The aim of this study was to develop a dog executive function scale (DEFS) for adult dogs. Focus groups were held with people working with dogs professionally to refine a pool of items describing dog behaviours related to EF. A survey was distributed online to a convenience sample of N = 714 owners of adult dogs. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis identified six distinguishable factors named behavioural flexibility, motor inhibition, attention towards owner, instruction following, delay inhibition and working memory. These factors appear similar to factors identified in human EF scales. Working dogs exhibit higher EF scores on the DEFS than non-working dogs. Dogs sourced from breeders exhibited higher DEFS scores than dogs sourced from shelters, and the amount of training received positively correlated with dogs' DEFS scores. The DEFS requires further validation with cognitive measures. The DEFS could then be used by researchers to complement assessment of dogs' EF skills through cognitive measures or assess dogs' EF skills in large samples.

Keywords: Behavioural regulation; Dog behaviour; Dog cognition; Working dogs.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that no conflict of interest or competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Dog source—subscale and total scale scores according to whether the dog was acquired from a rescue shelter (n = 205) or from a breeder (n = 339). p values have been Bonferroni-adjusted (multiplied by 5). Significance is indicated by *p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001. Cohen’s d for behavioural flexibility was 0.31, for motor regulation was 0.23, for attention towards owner was 0.25 and 0.36 for the total scale, indicating small effect sizes
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Working dog status—subscale and total scale scores according to whether the dog is a working dog (n = 56) or non-working dog (n = 645). p values have been Bonferroni-adjusted (multiplied by 5). Significance is indicated by *p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001. Cohen’s d for: behavioural flexibility: 0.62; motor regulation: 0.52; attention towards owner: 0.68; instruction following: 0.61; delay inhibition: 0.49; working memory: 0.63.; total scale score: 0.94
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Overall executive function score by dogs’ training score. Training score was calculated by summing different types of training a dog had received
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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