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ARIZONA CANINE COGNITION CENTER
Getting Inside The Minds Of Dogs
By Cherese Cobb
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It is not surprising that 43 percent of Americans report having three or more best friends. And according to a 2016 Beneful National Dog Week survey, nine in 10 Americans consider their dog to be one of those besties. Canines might be one of our closest companions, but we have really only scratched the surface of those relationships. For example, how does your four-legged friend’s brain work, and what is learned from your pup’s behavior?
That is what Evan MacLean, PhD, biological anthropologist, comparative psychologist, and director of Arizona Canine Cognition Center (ACCC) at the University of Arizona (UA) in Tucson, is trying to find out. With grants from the National Institutes of Health, American Kennel Club’s Canine Health Foundation, Office of Naval Research, and Mars Petcare, MacLean and his team have published more than 50 studies probing the workings of the animal mind. From exploring whether eight-week-old pups can recognize human faces, to testing newborn Labrador Retrievers to see if they’ll make good service dogs, here’s how ACCC is changing the way we understand canines with help from the local community.
Doing the research
Propelled by what makes animal minds the way they are, how they got that way, and why, ACCC looks to answer those questions through the following areas of research:
• Similarities and differences between the minds of animals and humans with a focus on uncovering which aspects of cognition are shared with other species and those that are unique to humans.
• The nature of individual differences in animal cognition to learn the different domains of animal intelligence—whether they are like that of humans or vary between individuals.
• The relationships between humans and dogs—acquiring information to improve the health and welfare of both species.
Dog behavior and cognition studies
In these investigations, MacLean and his team give dogs fun games to solve (like shuffling a treat under two cups) and then observe their decisions and strategies. “All dogs need to do is relax, eat food, and have a good time. But sometimes, they think they are at the vet’s office. They are wondering when we are going to go in the backroom to get a shot and they are nervous,” MacLean says.
On and off UA’s campus, ACCC works with 300 dogs per year. During studies, every interaction with a dog is recorded by video and coded. Sometimes, there is a single behavior that researchers are looking for so they code the video in real time. Other times, they code 30 different actions, like the dog’s gaze at a person, aspects of body language (such as posture, ear position, or tail movement), or where in the room they are spending time with other people or stimuli. That means 30 different passes through the video played in slow motion. Depending on the particular study, coding can take between two minutes and 20 hours.
ACCC has partnered with the Humane Society of Southern Arizona. “We have a senior thesis student who is looking at whether participation in cognitive tests can reduce stress for shelter dogs,” MacLean says.
How dogs see the world
ACCC is starting to work with dogs on eye-tracking. “It is basically a setup where we have a special pair of goggles that dogs can wear,” MacLean says. “We have one camera on the dog’s eyeball and another camera out in the world.”
Dogs can see yellow, violet-blue, and shades of gray, but their visual acuity is worse than humans. “We are not only getting the world from the dog’s point of view, but we are understanding how they are visually processing different kinds of scenes.”
Participation in cognitive tests may reduce stress in shelter dogs.
Alzheimer’s disease and canine dementia
Another course of study is dog dementia and how the canine brain ages. “We are interested in the potential parallels between dog dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in humans,” MacLean says. “Evidence suggests there might be similarities in dementia in both humans and dogs.”
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 5.8 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. Like humans, dogs with dementia may lose their sense of direction and wander around confused. Some dogs with dementia cannot recognize their human families or maneuver around objects. According to the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, seven in 10 dogs will develop this devastating disease by age 15.
Child-dog interaction study
Children raised with dogs have many benefits. Studies show that it makes them 15 percent less likely to develop asthma. Having a family dog also cuts their risk of allergies by 77 percent. According to a 2020 study in Pediatric Research, toddlers and young children who have dogs have fewer behavior and peer problems and higher prosocial behaviors, such as cooperating and sharing.
Research also shows “the presence of a calm, attentive dog” is the page-turning motivation many struggling readers need. “Many kids are too nervous to practice reading in front of adults because they mispronounce words. It is embarrassing, and children feel like adults are judging them,” MacLean says. But dogs are a captive, judgment-free audience. They increase attention, concentration, and motivation—even more than a close friend or supportive teacher.
Building on this body of work, MacLean and his team are also exploring how
