The resourceful mixed-breed dogs: a story about social learning and body-size representation

Every scientist knows the basic principle of experimental design: change only one factor at a time! This
will ensure the reliable detection of the effect (if there was any) of that particular variable. Those who
regularly follow the newsletters of the Department of Ethology, surely remember the recent reports about
body-awareness of dogs, and also the numerous results about how dogs mastered the detour task after
observing a demonstrator’s action in it. However, just like for humans, in the real world the challenges are
rarely simple for the dogs either. If the ethologists wish to devise experiments that better resemble to the
realistic conditions, it is time to test the combined effects of the various factors together!

Petra Dobos masters’ student and her supervisor, Dr. Péter Pongrácz from the Department of Ethology
were the first who planned an experiment that tested dogs’ body-size awareness and social learning
capacity in the same, complex spatial task. This research has been conducted within the framework of
Petra’s University Research Fellowships grant. The task was seemingly easy for the dogs: they had to
obtain the reward from behind a 3m long fence. In the first three trials this was possible only by making a
detour around the fence. However, in the next three trials the dogs were provided with a handy ‘shortcut’:
an opening through the fence through which they could easily get to the reward.
The size of the opening was always tailored to the actual size of the dog: the participants faced either with
a comfortably large, or an uncomfortably small (but still passable) opening. In a third group Petra showed
the dogs how to detour easily the fence in the first three trials (while the door was still closed). Thus, when
in the fourth trial finally the dogs faced the shortcut, they had to overcome the following complex
dilemma: (1) should they continue to detour or choose the practical shortcut? (2) If they lean towards the
opening, would it matter how large was the door? If the door looks too small compared to the dog’s
height, wouldn’t it better to choose the detour instead? (3) If the dogs observed the demonstrator’s action,
would it better to rely on the socially reinforced solution?
All dogs were mixed-breeds in the study, thus the researchers did not need to take into consideration the
potential differences between the dog breeds in their willingness to pay attention to the human
demonstrator. Mixed-breed dogs will serve as a ‘baseline’ for evaluating the performance of purebreds in
the future.
According to the results, once the door was open, canine participants mainly chose the shortcut meanwhile
they relied on their body-awareness. They rarely opted for the detour in the last three trials, although those
dogs who faced the ‘small’ opening, hesitated longer using it, and opted relatively more often for making
a detour. Social learning was also detectable: dogs who looked longer at Petra when she demonstrated the
detour, more likely continued detouring even after the opening became available for them.
This study, recently published in Animals, illustrates the flexibility of dogs amidst the complex challenges
in their environment, no matter whether these are physical (the size of the opening), or social in their
nature (was there any solution demonstrated by a human). Mixed-breed dogs probably show higher
independence in these situations, compared to many of the purebreds, who were selected for more
cooperative problem-solving with humans. This is not only the first study in a complex social learning/
body size awareness scenario, but one of the few investigations that specifically targeted the behavior of
mixed breed dogs.

Dobos, P., & Pongrácz, P. (2025). Body Awareness Does Not Need a Pedigree: Mixed-Breed Dogs Rely
More on Self-Representation Than Social Learning in a Spatial Task. Animals, 15(3), 432.

Videoabstract:
https://figshare.com/s/6a683414fcfacee7a004