Elsevier

Journal of Veterinary Behavior

Volume 10, Issue 6, November–December 2015, Pages 465-470
Journal of Veterinary Behavior

Canine Research
Labrador retrievers are more attracted to water than to social stimuli: A pilot study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2015.07.041Get rights and content

Abstract

The Labrador retriever is a breed of domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris/Canis familiaris) of great importance to our current society. This breed was selected to be an excellent water dog and to work with fishermen. Because of its origins, the popular belief is that Labrador retrievers are “keen water lovers.” However, the extent to which this is true, and whether recent selection pressures might have changed the breed is unknown. In this pilot work, we investigated the relative importance of water as a behavioral stimulus for the modern breed. The study was conducted in an arena with a swimming pool to evaluate differences in the frequency of approach behaviors and the duration of interaction behaviors toward 3 stimuli: water, dog, and human. The behaviors were measured during 2-minute periods for each Labrador retriever (N = 10), in 3 trials, with all the stimuli present at the same time in the arena. The dogs interacted significantly longer with the water stimulus than with the dog and the human stimuli. The median of the frequency of approach to the water stimulus was significantly different from the median frequency of approach to the dog stimulus. The water appeared to be a positive stimulus for this group of Labrador retrievers and the most appealing of the 3 stimuli in the specific test condition. With this pilot study, we sought to introduce novel research in terms of needs and preferences of specific dog breeds, with particular relevance of regular contact with swimming water to the welfare of this breed.

Introduction

There are hundreds of recognized breeds of domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris/Canis familiaris) differing in morphologic and behavioral characteristics. All breeds are the result of artificial selection through selective breeding (Stafford, 2006, Svartberg, 2006). Intentional selection by humans has shaped most dog breeds to excel in specific tasks in specialized environments or conditions. The desired function determined the required skills for the breed. Breed-specific behaviors are seen as the result of past selection (Stafford, 2006, Miklósi, 2007). Although some original characteristics and predilections of the breeds are preserved today, others might have changed and continue changing due to modern selection pressures during recent decades (Svartberg, 2006). The new selection pressures result from the fact that the task of many breeds today is different from their original one, that is, the one the breed was selected to perform.

The Labrador retriever is one of the most popular dog breeds in the world (Stafford, 2006). It was originally selected to work with fishermen in Newfoundland, helping to retrieve nets and fish (Wiles-Fone, 2003). The breed is now widely held as companion pets, show dogs, and assistance dogs, for example, guide dogs, rescue dogs, and drug detection dogs (Weiss and Greenberg, 1997, Jones and Gosling, 2005, Maejima et al., 2007). Labrador retriever dogs have physical characteristics that allow them to be excellent water dogs, such as weather-resistant coat, unique otter-shape tail, and webbed toes. These dogs have been described as “keen water lovers” (Davis, 2008), but the extent to which this stereotype is accurate is unknown for present-day Labrador retrievers. Prior election for individuals displaying enthusiasm and satisfaction for interacting with water should have influenced both working and breeding. Now the breed is not always engaged in water-related activities, and common housing or management conditions may not offer opportunities of interaction with water (e.g., no swimming pool or natural water stream accessible to the dogs).

The special origin of Labrador retrievers raises the hypothesis that regular swimming water contact may be an important feature for the welfare of these dogs. It is increasingly important to study the welfare of working dog breeds for ethical reasons and for improvement of training and work output ability (Rooney et al., 2009). The ability to perform a social task has been shown to be related to the welfare of the individual animal (Vincent and Leahy, 1997). The welfare of an animal may be impaired if it is unable to engage in some behavior for which they are highly interested or motivated, and may have been selected. Deprivation of behavioral needs can cause stress, suffering, pain, and pathology, all of which involve compromised welfare (Dawkins, 1988, Dawkins, 1990, Jensen and Toates, 1993). Prevention of negative states must be accompanied by ensuring access to positive states for the animals (positive welfare). Positive states (experiencing positive feelings and accessibility to resources that an animal needs—what the animal “likes” and “wants”) are now considered goal components for good welfare (see review in Boissy et al., 2007 and Yeates and Main, 2008). For many dogs, performing the specific function they were bred for provides a strong positive emotion of pleasure (Stafford, 2006). It is challenging to distinguish the truly beneficial positive emotions from the neutral positive emotions that will not improve the quality of life of the animals (Phillips, 2009), but by testing whether interacting with swimming water is a behavioral need for Labrador retrievers, we investigated whether swimming water could be a positive stimulus to ensure positive experiences and good welfare to this breed.

To our knowledge, the current validity of the “water lover breed” stereotype has never been investigated for the modern breed. The aim of this study was to perform a preliminary evaluation of the importance of swimming water for the modern lineage of the Labrador retriever breed, investigating if different Labrador retrievers prefer to approach and/or interact with swimming water when in the presence of other appealing stimuli. To achieve this, we created an open-field arena test with nonaversive (positive) stimuli. Presenting the dogs with different positive stimuli in this arrangement allowed measuring which stimuli the dogs actively selected to approach more frequently and interact with more time. Such test indicates which stimulus has a higher preference score and is preferred over the others (Walsh and Cummins, 1976). The relative preference does not quantify how much an animal is willing to work to access a resource, but it is crucial for revealing relevance and designing future studies upon animal preference, willingness to participate in the study and needs.

Section snippets

Subjects and housing

Ten Labrador retrievers (7 females and 3 males) were used in this study. The group included dogs with ages ranging from 2 to 13 years old. The dogs had been raised together since a young age on a farm kennel in Oliveira de Azeméis (Portugal), except for one of the older females that had previously lived 3 years in a dog kennel. One dog had training as an assistance dog and another was being trained as an assistance dog during the time when the study was conducted.

The dogs lived together in the

Results

The water stimulus had the highest weighted mean of approach frequency (3.38 total approaches ± 0.46 standard error of the mean [SEM]), followed by the human stimulus (mean of 2.35 total approaches ± 0.51 SEM), and the dog stimulus (mean of 1.35 total approaches ± 0.44 SEM). The weighted mean frequencies of approaches across stimuli were not significantly different (Friedman test: χ2 = 5.895; df = 2; N = 10; P = 0.052) (Figure 2). The Wilcoxon signed-ranks test revealed that the median of the

Discussion

This study shows that the water was a positive stimulus for this group of Labrador retrievers and the most appealing of the 3 stimuli presented. The dogs interacted significantly longer with the water stimulus, and the median frequency of approach was greater for the water stimulus. This group of Labrador retrievers preferred the water when in the presence of positive social stimuli in the arena test. By popular belief, this breed has been attributed a “water lover breed” stereotype. It is

Conclusions

The water was the most appealing stimulus of the 3 presented in the arena test for the group of Labrador retrievers tested. The dogs interacted significantly more time with it than with the other positive stimuli in the arena, and the dogs approached the water stimulus more times in 1 measure. Our pilot study is the first to begin the exploration of specific preferences and needs in dog breeds, and particularly the significance of swimming water for Labrador retrievers. Future research is

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the staff and the dogs of the Quinta do Côvo (Oliveira de Azeméis, Portugal) and the Association Ânimas for the consent to use some of their dogs in the study. Thanks to all volunteers that helped during the study. We would also like to thank Miguel Neves and Saana Isojunno for their helpful comments on an earlier draft and Filipa Samarra for valuable advice. This article was greatly improved by helpful comments from the editor and 2 anonymous reviewers. The idea for

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Present address: Sea Mammal Research Unit, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Bute Building, St Andrews KY16 9TS, Scotland, United Kingdom.

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