Centre for Behaviour and Evolution, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Agriculture Building, Newcastle NE1 7RU, UK.
School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Leicestershire LE12 5RD, UK.
Biol Lett. 2020 May;16(5):20200097. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0097. Epub 2020 May 13.
The relationship between parent and child changes around adolescence, with children believed to have: (i) an earlier puberty if they have less secure attachments to their carer; (ii) a phase of increased conflict behaviour toward their carer; and (iii) heightened conflict behaviour when carer attachments are less secure. We find support for analogous associations in adolescent dogs based on behaviour and reproductive timing of potential guide dogs. Bitches with behaviour indicative of insecure attachments pre-adolescence became reproductively capable earlier. Providing the first empirical evidence to our knowledge in support of adolescent-phase behaviour in dogs, we found a passing phase of carer-specific conflict-like behaviour during adolescence (reduced trainability and responsiveness to commands), an effect that was more pronounced in dogs with behaviour indicative of less secure attachments. These results indicate a possibility for cross-species influence on reproductive development and highlight adolescence as a vulnerable time for dog-owner relationships.
父母与子女的关系在青春期发生变化，人们认为如果孩子与照顾者的依恋关系不那么牢固，他们会：(i) 青春期提前；(ii) 对照顾者的冲突行为增加；(iii) 当照顾者的依恋关系不那么牢固时，冲突行为加剧。我们发现，基于潜在导盲犬的行为和繁殖时间，青少年犬也存在类似的关联。在青春期前表现出不安全感依恋的母犬更早具备繁殖能力。这为我们所知的犬类青春期行为提供了第一个经验证据，我们发现青春期会出现一段特定于照顾者的类似冲突的行为（训练能力降低，对命令的反应性降低），这种影响在行为上显示出依恋关系不那么牢固的犬类中更为明显。这些结果表明，生殖发育可能受到跨物种的影响，并强调青春期是犬类与主人关系脆弱的时期。
