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. 2023 Apr 17;13(8):1371.
doi: 10.3390/ani13081371.

A Descriptive Methodology for Studying the Ontogeny of Object Play and Breed Differences in Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)

Karen M Davis  1   2   3 , Adam M Partin  2 , Gordon M Burghardt  2   3 , Cary M Springer  4 , Julia D Albright  5
Affiliations

A Descriptive Methodology for Studying the Ontogeny of Object Play and Breed Differences in Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)

Karen M Davis et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

Play behavior is a prominent aspect of juvenile behavior for many animals, yet early development, especially play with objects, has received little attention. Our previous study on object play introduced our general methods, focusing on litter differences in the developmental trajectory of object play and toy preferences. Here, we present a detailed ethogram of more than 30 observed object play behaviors. We focus on breed differences in the development of play in the three following breeds: Welsh Terriers, Vizslas, and standard Poodles. Puppies were video recorded from 3 to 7 weeks of age at half-week intervals upon the introduction of a standard set of five toys into their home environments. Ten minutes of video from each session for each puppy were analyzed using the Noldus Observer XT program. Aside from analyzing individual behaviors, they were also grouped into three behavioral categories. These were behaviors that occurred only in a solitary context, only in a social context, or in both contexts. Solitary object play developed first, and social object play developed later across breeds. There was a significant three-way interaction between breed, developmental age, and the context in which play occurred. Pairwise comparisons within each breed, age, and context are discussed, but a prominent result is that the onset of many behaviors occurred later in Welsh Terriers compared to the other breeds.

Keywords: Canis familiaris; behavioral development; breed differences; domestic dogs; object play; ontogeny; play ethogram; social object play; solitary play.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. Our funding sources had no role in the study design, the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The 5 different PetSafe research toys (objects). These objects are labelled as seen in the figure: (A) a braided cloth rope attached to hard rubber ball; (B) a squirrel; (C) a white plush puff; (D) red rubber bar-bell-shaped bone; (E) and a blue hard rubber disk.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Play Context. Mean durations in seconds for individual pups across breeds for each play context: play behaviors performed (A) only by a solitary animal (solitary/SOL); (B) only by two or more individuals (social/SOC); and (C) those that were observed in either solitary or multiple individual contexts (both/BOTH) by age in weeks 3–7 with 95% CI.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Individual Behaviors in the social (SOC) Play Context. Mean durations in seconds for individual behaviors in the social (SOC) play context for pups across breeds with 95% CI. (A) chase, (B) keep away, (C) paw face, (D) tug-of-war by age in weeks.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Individual Behaviors in the social (SOC) Play Context. Mean durations in seconds for individual behaviors in the social (SOC) play context for pups across breeds with 95% CI. (A) chase, (B) keep away, (C) paw face, (D) tug-of-war by age in weeks.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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