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. 2024 May 29;14(1):12351.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-62957-5.

Success in the Natural Detection Task is influenced by only a few factors generally believed to affect dogs' olfactory performance

Attila Salamon  1   2   3   4 , Eszter Baranya  5   6 , László Róbert Zsiros  5   6 , Ádám Miklósi  7   6 , Melitta Csepregi  7   6   8 , Enikő Kubinyi  5   6   9 , Attila Andics  5   10 , Márta Gácsi  7   5   6   11
Affiliations

Success in the Natural Detection Task is influenced by only a few factors generally believed to affect dogs' olfactory performance

Attila Salamon et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Research into dogs' olfactory ability is growing rapidly. However, generalising based on scientific results is challenging, because research has been typically conducted on a few specially trained subjects of a few breeds tested in different environmental conditions. We investigated the effects of temperature and humidity (outdoors), age, test location, sex, neutering status, and repeated testing (outdoors and indoors) on the olfactory performance of untrained family dogs (N = 411) of various breeds. We employed the Natural Detection Task with three difficulty levels, from which we derived two performance metrics: Top Level and Success Score. Temperature (0-25 °C) and humidity (18-90%) did not affect olfactory performance. Young adult dogs surpassed other age groups in reaching the Top Level. Sex and neutering status showed no discernible influence on Top Level and Success Score. Dogs performed better in both metrics when tested indoors compared to outdoors. In the test-retest procedure no significant learning effect was observed. We confirmed on untrained companion dogs that olfactory performance declines with age and rejected some factors that have been previously hypothesised to significantly affect dogs' olfactory success. The influence of the testing environment was notable, emphasising the need to consider various factors in understanding dogs' olfactory capabilities.

Keywords: Age; Bayesian statistics; Dog; Natural Detection Task; Olfaction; Test location.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Test locations and indications. (A) Outdoor test location; flat grassy area surrounded by hedges and trees, relatively isolated from pedestrians and dog walkers. (B–D) Indoor test location; clean and empty laboratory room. Dogs’ spontaneous indications of the target scent (4 typical types): (A) nose in the hole for > 2 s, (B) pawing, (C) looking at the owner, (D) lying down.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Illustration of the two metrics, Top Level and Success Score, used to characterise the performance of dogs (N = 411) in the olfactory test. The number of dogs are shown for each category within the two metrics.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The percentage of dogs reaching Top Level in each age category (total N = 411).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Top Level and Success Score results of dogs in the two test locations (total N = 411).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Top Level and Success Score results of dogs over 2 years of age, depending on their sex and neutering status (N = 120).
Figure 6
Figure 6
The Top Level and Success Score results of dogs in the two test locations and test orders (within-subject design) (total N = 57).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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