In Dogs Like Treats, But Here's What Really Gets Their Tails Wagging, Macrina Cooper-White of the Huffington Post tells us that scientist from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala discovered that dogs like treats of food the best of all possible rewards, and, dogs who were rewarded for performing specific tasked "were more active and wagged their tails more than dogs who received awards at random."
“The experimental animals in our study were excited not only by the expectation of a reward, but also about realizing that they themselves could control their access to the reward," the researchers wrote in a paper describing the study, published in the journal Animal Cognition.
Dog given treats at random chewed more on devices in the testing room, which researchers interpreted as "frustration," have having little control over their self-actualization (Snark alert.)
What explains the effect? The researchers theorize that dogs enjoy learning new things because evolution favored that tendency -- previous research showed that emotional arousal boosts learning and memory, and thus survival.
"These results support the idea that opportunities to solve problems, make decisions, and exercise cognitive skills are important to an animal’s emotional experiences and ultimately, its welfare,” the researchers wrote.
I could have told them dogs like food as treats more than just a scratch behind the ears - although, that's pretty good too, and I see no reason we shouldn't be generous with both.
How can these scientists be sure that the dogs in this experiment realized that scientists are happier when they think they are discovering repeatable experimental results, so pretended to be happier when earning treats to make the scientists happier? The 12 beagles in this study seemed to have a fairly good racket going. "Oh, scientist, I certainly would be a lot happier with a couple more treats, and a scratch behind the ears."
Where do I find a job like that? Woof, woof!
How do the Daily Kos admins even know I'm a dog?
A puppy who hasn't realized trying to get treats, or nearly any sign of appreciation, from cats by giving them massages is a futile exercise.