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Early-Emerging and Highly-Heritable Sensitivity to Human Communication in Dogs

View ORCID ProfileEmily E. Bray, View ORCID ProfileGitanjali E. Gnanadesikan, Daniel J. Horschler, Kerinne M. Levy, Brenda S. Kennedy, Thomas R. Famula, View ORCID ProfileEvan L. MacLean
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.17.434752
Emily E. Bray
1Arizona Canine Cognition Center, School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85719, U.S.A
2Canine Companions for Independence, National Headquarters, Santa Rosa, CA 95407, U.S.A
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  • For correspondence: ebray@email.arizona.edu
Gitanjali E. Gnanadesikan
1Arizona Canine Cognition Center, School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85719, U.S.A
3Cognitive Science Program, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85719, U.S.A
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Daniel J. Horschler
1Arizona Canine Cognition Center, School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85719, U.S.A
3Cognitive Science Program, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85719, U.S.A
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Kerinne M. Levy
2Canine Companions for Independence, National Headquarters, Santa Rosa, CA 95407, U.S.A
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Brenda S. Kennedy
2Canine Companions for Independence, National Headquarters, Santa Rosa, CA 95407, U.S.A
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Thomas R. Famula
4Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, U.S.A
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Evan L. MacLean
1Arizona Canine Cognition Center, School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85719, U.S.A
3Cognitive Science Program, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85719, U.S.A
5Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85719, U.S.A
6College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85719, U.S.A
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Abstract

Dogs exhibit similarities to humans in their sensitivity to cooperative-communicative cues, but the extent to which they are biologically prepared for communication with humans is heavily debated. To investigate the developmental and genetic origins of these traits, we tested 375 eight-week-old dog puppies on a battery of social-cognitive measures. We hypothesized that if dogs’ social skills for cooperating with humans are biologically prepared, then these skills should emerge robustly in early development, not require extensive socialization or learning, and exhibit heritable variation. Puppies were highly skillful at using diverse human gestures and we found no evidence of learning across test trials, suggesting that they possess these skills prior to their first exposure to these cues. Critically, over 40% of the variation in dogs’ point-following abilities and attention to human faces was attributable to genetic factors. Our results suggest that these social skills in dogs emerge early in development and are under strong genetic control.

  • - Genetic factors account for nearly half of variation in dog social skills

  • - Puppies displayed social skills and interest in human faces from 8 weeks old

  • - Puppies successfully used human gestures from the very first trial

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted March 17, 2021.
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Early-Emerging and Highly-Heritable Sensitivity to Human Communication in Dogs
Emily E. Bray, Gitanjali E. Gnanadesikan, Daniel J. Horschler, Kerinne M. Levy, Brenda S. Kennedy, Thomas R. Famula, Evan L. MacLean
bioRxiv 2021.03.17.434752; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.17.434752
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Early-Emerging and Highly-Heritable Sensitivity to Human Communication in Dogs
Emily E. Bray, Gitanjali E. Gnanadesikan, Daniel J. Horschler, Kerinne M. Levy, Brenda S. Kennedy, Thomas R. Famula, Evan L. MacLean
bioRxiv 2021.03.17.434752; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.17.434752

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