Dog Studies
The PAWS Lab is interested in recording the behaviours your furry friend exhibits during social interactions and games. Dogs serve as a great model to explore the mechanisms and evolution of cooperation of humans since dogs have been specifically selected during domestication to interact with humans. We conduct observational and experimental studies of pet dogs in the lab and from pet owners’ homes. The lab studies require you and your dog to attend the PAWS Lab at the University of St Andrews in order to participate. The at home studies are studies you can participate in from the comfort of your home, usually consisting of you recording your dog’s natural behaviour or following a simple experimental procedure.
Interested in hearing about current and upcoming studies and maybe participating? Join our mailing list! There’s no obligation to participate if you join – we will just send you occasional adverts about new studies that contain a link to more information and an appointment booking site if you are interested.
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Lab Studies
Do dogs understand common ground?
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether adult dogs show behaviours that are indicative of sharing common knowledge with a human after sharing an experience together. If your dog can follow basic retrieval commands (like “Fetch!” or “Get it!”), we invite you and your dog to participate! Your dog will be asked to play with two experimenters with different toys, and then will be asked to retrieve a toy by each of the experimenters. The session will take less than an hour at the lab. If you are interested in learning more, please follow the link to the right for further information, an optional consent form, and an online appointment booking form if you wish to participate.
Do dogs re-engage their owner?
We are investigating whether adult dogs try to re-engage their owner if their owner stops playing with them. If your dog enjoys playing with dog toys, we invite you and your dog to participate in this project. You would be acting as the scientist by conducting a simple 5-minute procedure. For the procedure, you will be asked to play with your dog for a minute, then asked to ignore your dog for a minute, and then repeat this, with a play period at the end. In part of this study, you would asked to visit our lab to conduct the procedure . In the other part of this study, you would conduct the same procedure in your home. You would be asked to video record yourselves (on a phone, tablet, or laptop) as you complete the procedure and then share the video with our research team. If you are interested in learning more, please read the ‘Participant Information Sheet’ and ‘Re-Engagement Study Details’ listed to the right.
At Home Studies
Do dogs re-engage their owner?
This is the “at-home only” version of our Re-engagement Study listed above. We are investigating whether adult dogs try to re-engage their owner if their owner stops playing with them. If your dog enjoys playing with dog toys, we invite you and your dog to participate in this project. You would be acting as the scientist by conducting a simple 5-minute procedure. For the procedure, you will be asked to play with your dog for a minute, then asked to ignore your dog for a minute, and then repeat this, with a play period at the end. No visit to the lab is needed, so this study can be done from anywhere in the UK or US! If you are interested in learning more, please read the ‘Participant Information Sheet’ and ‘Re-Engagement Study Details’ listed below.
Do puppies re-engage their owner? If so, when?
This is the developmental version of our Re-engagement Study listed above. We are investigating whether puppies try to re-engage their owner when their owner stops playing with them. If you have a 3- or 4-month-old puppy who enjoys playing with dog toys with you, we invite you and your puppy to participate in this project. You would be acting as the scientist by conducting a simple 5-minute procedure in your home once a month until your puppy reaches the age of 12 months. For the procedure, you will be asked to play with your puppy for a minute, then asked to ignore your puppy for a minute, and then repeat this, with a play period at the end. This study can be done from anywhere in the UK and US! If you are interested in learning more, please read the ‘Participant Information Sheet’ and ‘Study Details’ document.
Do dogs show new toys they have received to their owner?
We are investigating whether adult dogs show new toys they have received to their owner who has not seen the toy before. If your dog enjoys playing with dog toys, has a general history of bringing you toys, and lives in a 2(+) adult household, we invite you and your dog to participate in our citizen science project. In this study, you and a second owner would be acting as the scientists by conducting a simple study in your home. You would be sent detailed instructions on how to complete every step of the procedure. You would be asked to video record yourselves (on a phone, tablet, or laptop) as you complete the procedure and then share the video with our research team. The study procedure is composed of two parts: Part 1 is done over 2 days for approximately 10 minutes each day, and Part 2 is done over 2 days for approximately 15 minutes each day. If you are interested in learning more, please watch the linked ‘Demonstration Video’ and read the linked ‘Participant Information Sheet’ and ‘FAQ Sheet’.
