Chan Kelly, Arellano Carol, Horowitz Alexandra
Dog Cognition Lab, Department of Psychology, Barnard College, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Animals (Basel). 2023 Oct 27;13(21):3340. doi: 10.3390/ani13213340.
Retail dog toys are often provided to companion animals to provide cognitive and physical stimu- lation and improve the animals' quality of life. These toys, sometimes known as "enrichment toys", have been shown to play a role in increasing appetite and activity levels and decreasing undesirable behaviors (e.g., barking, self-isolating behaviors) in some domestic dog () populations. In this study, we evaluate the effect of toys on appetite, activity levels, and positive affective states as measures of well- being in companion dogs. Behaviors were compared before and after regular interactions with different types of toys over twelve days. We found that provisioning companion dogs with toys did not significantly alter their activity level, rate of food consumption, or cognitive bias. While dogs who received more complex toys showed a slightly improved cognitive bias, there were no significant differences in behaviors be- tween the subjects who received "less complex" toys (e.g., a bone, ball) and "more complex" toys (e.g., puzzle toys). We conclude with reflections on the relevance of our subject population to the result seen, and on the different forms of the cognitive bias test.
零售狗玩具通常提供给伴侣动物，以提供认知和身体刺激，并改善动物的生活质量。这些玩具，有时被称为“益智玩具”，已被证明在增加某些家犬群体的食欲和活动水平以及减少不良行为（如吠叫、自我隔离行为）方面发挥作用。在本研究中，我们评估玩具对伴侣犬的食欲、活动水平和积极情感状态的影响，以此作为衡量其幸福感的指标。在与不同类型的玩具进行为期十二天的定期互动前后，对行为进行了比较。我们发现，给伴侣犬提供玩具并没有显著改变它们的活动水平、食物消耗率或认知偏差。虽然收到更复杂玩具的狗表现出认知偏差略有改善，但收到“不太复杂”玩具（如骨头、球）和“更复杂”玩具（如拼图玩具）的受试者之间的行为没有显著差异。我们最后反思了我们的研究对象群体与所观察到的结果之间的相关性，以及认知偏差测试的不同形式。
