Hannah turned to several dog experts, who specialize in
dog psychology, to help find the answer. There are multiple arti- cles written on this topic, “A Dog’s Dilemma: Do Canines Prefer Praise or Food?” Psychology Today; “Gregory Berns Knows What Your Dog is Thinking (It’s Sweet).” The New York Times; and “Why Dogs and Humans Love Each Other So Much.” TIME Magazine, just to name a few. But ultimately these articles provided a list of mixed answers, as did other dog psychology books she studied, which is why she needed to do her own live experiment.
THE EXPERIMENT Hannah also conducted her own daily experiment on
Rocket and tracked the results for two straight weeks. This experiment included: (A) 3-year-old female Lab/Poodle mix; (B) Two stainless steel dog bowls; (C) A notebook and pen for recording data; (D) 30 cups of dry dog food; (E) One measur- ing cup; (F) 4 oz. bag of dog treats; (G) 6 people willing to ignore the dog for two weeks; and (H) A timer set for five minutes. There were also multiple outside factors in this experiment
that were not controlled. 1. First was the canine’s breed, genetics, personality and background, to better understand why a dog favors food or companionship over toys or objects. 2. Then there were subgroups, which included abused or deprived dogs, that experienced cruelty or negative connections with their owners. These dogs were thought to be so damaged, and understandably broken that they just wanted their food and to be left alone. Because of this they were left out of the project. 3. Some data she found could change the outcome of her experiment sans her own live dog experiment, because there are a lot of mixed answers from a variety of professional and veterinary sources. 4. Also, Hannah knew that she was coming from a biased presumption that dogs love their owners because humans love them and see them as part of the family.
SCIENTIFIC PROCEDURE Step 1. At the first meal for this experiment, one of the dog’s family members (who she does not have a strong connection with), put the normal amount of dry dog food in her bowl during her regular eating time. Step 2. Repeat daily and family cannot feed dog any extra food, such as table scraps, dog biscuits, treats or any additional type of food with the regular dry dog food. Step 3. In addition to the regular meal, everyone in the family was instructed to ignore the dog during the first five minutes in the room with her for the next two weeks. When doing so, record the reactions of the dog to see if it is more upset not having the extra food or human attention and affection. Write down observations to detail how the dog reacts to being ignored. Is she upset? Does she try to get your attention by barking at you? Does she ignore you? Step 4. Observe the dog’s reaction to having someone else
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(a stranger) feed them and not having any additional treats for a two-week period. Does the dog still seek attention from the stranger? Is she trying to steal food from others? Does she walk away when the stranger tries to pet or play with her? Does she become aggressive? Step 5. Record all the information regarding the various reactions and dog behavior each day. What changes and or what stays the same? Make a note of any drastic changes in the dog’s behavior. Step 6. After two weeks, slowly start giving the dog treats again and have the regular person start feeding her again. Hannah then tracked how her dog’s behavior changed when the experiment was reversed. Does she respond positively? Does she interact with humans more when they finally stop ignoring her (when entering the room)? What were the changes in her behavior during the three days after the experiment ended, and things returned to normal?
AND THE FINAL CONCLUSION? If you guessed food, like me, you were wrong. Hannah’s analysis shows that dogs prefer affection over
food. Her chart confirmed that the canine didn’t care about food. However, at the mid-point the dog started to attempt to take people’s food. Later, the dog realized it wasn’t going to get food and gave up. Whenever the dog was ignored, she tried to get attention by pawing and barking. She seemed more upset at the fact that she was getting less attention at the beginning of the experiment, however by the end, she started to mellow out and didn’t bother to seek affection. After two weeks, when the experiment ended, she got a treat and instead of quickly swal- lowing it whole as she did (prior to the experiment), she savored it and seemed happier and more playful than she had been for the last two weeks.
lInterest in humans lInterest in food
treats, but appeared happier with the addition of food and affec- tion. Hannah’s hypothesis was correct. Dogs truly love us more than they love food.
U THE NEW BARKER 53 The conclusion was the dog still wanted affection, without
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