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Introduction
Publications
Publications (35)
There is a wealth of popular literature available on dog behavior and training; sourcing
reliable and trustworthy advice is important to achieving successful training. The aim
of this study was to select five best-selling (at that time) dog training books, and review
their general content and references to basic learning theory and human communicat...
Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) can detect substances at much lower concentrations than humans (Thorne, 1995) and their area of olfactory epithelium (18 to 150 cm2 ; Dodd and Squirrel, 1980, cited in Thorne, 1995) is much greater than that of humans (3 cm2; Albone, 1984). Dogs are used by humans to locate a range of substances because of their sup...
Animal olfactory detection of human diseases has attracted an increasing amount of interest from researchers in recent years. Because of the inconsistent findings reported in this body of research and the complexity of scent detection research, it is difficult to ascertain the potential value of animal detectors in operational diagnostic algorithms...
Dog owners deliver positive reinforcement at a range of times after their dogs have performed behaviors. Two studies investigated variables that might aid dogs’ learning, despite delayed reinforcement. In Study 1 the dog’s taskwas to put his head inside a box, thus breaking infrared beams and triggering delivery of positive reinforcement (a beep, t...
In northern New Zealand, there is speculation that predation by a recovering shorebird, the South Island Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus finschi), has caused the continuing decline of an endemic surf clam, the toheroa (Paphies ventricosa). Consequently, there have been requests by the public for these protected birds to be culled to protect and rest...
Evaluations of dogs as lung cancer detectors using breath samples have produced a variety of results, some quite promising. Breath samples are typically collected onto a substrate and stored in a sealed container when not in use, but volatile compounds dissipate when the substrate is exposed during training and evaluation sessions. Collection of ap...
Carp (Cyprinus sp.) are a highly invasive fish that pose a significant threat to freshwater ecosystems worldwide. At high biomasses (i.e., ≥100 kg/ha), the benthic feeding behaviour of carp can have deleterious ecosystem effects, often changing clear, macrophyte dominant waterbodies to turbid-phytoplankton dominant ecosystems. To prevent carp from...
Scent-detection animals are routinely evaluated for detection accuracy for a wide range of targets. The obtained estimates of accuracy vary widely, even with the same species of detector (e.g., dogs) and target type (e.g., lung cancer). One factor that may contribute to these varied results is variability in the point at which the detection animals...
Scent-detection dogs assist humans with many socially significant tasks and hold promise for assisting with many others. However, the methods used to train scent-detection dogs and the conditions under which they work are highly variable, and the influences of many relevant factors on scent-detection performance are poorly understood. Using an auto...
This research will focus on the impacts of artifical lighting on the behavioural ecology of LTBs occupying urban and peri-/urban habitat in Hamilton and Taranaki.
Scent-detection dogs have proved extremely efficacious in many settings (e.g., terrestrial biosecurity and conservation); however, there is limited evaluation of dogs’ ability to detect aquatic targets. New Zealand’s freshwater ecosystems have suffered losses of native biodiversity and declining water quality due to invasive fish. Once established,...
Detection of an invasive aquatic species by canine olfaction.
Influences of indication response requirement on scent detection performance of dogs in a go/no-go procedure.
Behaviour problems are a leading reason for relinquishment of dogs, and dog training is associated with a reduced prevalence of behavioural issues. Earlier observational studies have shown that dog owners often delay the delivery of positive reinforcement during everyday dog training. Subsequent experimental research found that similar-length (1 s)...
Positive reinforcement is often delayed during everyday dog training. Such delays are detrimental to learning, and yet most dog training is successful. This study aimed to investigate factors that might aid dogs’ learning, despite delayed reinforcement. Twenty-one owners were filmed training their dogs. This footage was analysed for the timing and...
Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) have lived closely with humans for thousands of years. Successful dog training is important for dogs to fulfil the many roles that they play within human societies, and to aid good human-dog relationships and thus the welfare of both parties. The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate the interactions that ta...
Dog owners deliver positive reinforcement at a range of times after their dogs have performed behaviours, from 0 s to > 6 s. Our previous work assessed the impact of delayed reinforcement on dogs’ learning abilities in a novel task. The task the dogs had to perform was putting their heads inside a box; in doing so their heads broke infrared beams,...
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of delaying positive reinforcement when training pet dogs to perform a novel behaviour. Research on other species (e.g. rats and pigeons) has shown that although delayed reinforcement can result in trained behaviour, delays can compromise speed of task acquisition and rate of responding. The effects...
Research on animals such as rats and pigeons has shown that delaying positive reinforcement can compromise speed of task acquisition and rate of responding. Field observations of dog owners during training found delays to reinforcement range from 0-6.2 s; however, the effects of delaying reinforcement don’t appear to have been studied with dogs. Th...
There is a wealth of popular dog training literature. This study reviewed a sample of best-selling dog training books. An Internet search in 2009 on three major online bookstores’ websites selected the five best-selling books. The authors were Millan & Peltier; Fennell; Stilwell; Pryor; and Monks of New Skete. The books were examined for their gene...
Research on other species (e.g. rats and pigeons) has shown that although delays in reinforcement can still result in trained behaviour, delays can compromise both speed of task acquisition and rate of responding (Dickinson, et al., 1992; Lattal & Gleeson, 1990; Schlinger & Blakely 1994). Field observations of dog owners have found delays to reinfo...
The provision of dog training advice is important, and there is a wealth of non-academic, popular dog training literature. Many owners have no formal behavioural training. Thus it is important that learning principles are presented so their relevance and application are clear. Because dogs are receptive to human cues, owners may benefit from unders...
Feedback (i.e., including reinforcement or punishment) during a training procedure affects the probability of an emitted behaviour occurring again. Delays in feedback influence its effectiveness. Timing of feedback, therefore, is an important variable in the process of animal training. There is a significant body of literature on the effects of rei...
Dogs are very responsive to human cues, thus it is reasonable to assume that subtle feedback from humans affects dog training efficacy. Research on other species has shown that delays to reinforcement can result in longer average times to task acquisition and relatively lower rates of responding. The aim of this study was to examine owners’ latenci...
Research on dog-human communication has demonstrated that dogs are extremely responsive to human cues such as pointing, eye gazing and vocalizations. Because dogs are so receptive to such cues, it is reasonable to assume that subtle feedback from humans has an effect on the efficacy of dog training. Timing of reinforcement in the field of dog behav...
Research on dog-human communication shows dogs are extremely responsive to human cues, such as vocalisations, pointing, and eye gazing. Because dogs are so receptive to these cues, it is reasonable to assume that the quality of dog-human communication has an impact on the efficacy of dog training. The purpose of this study was to examine which cues...
Research on dog-human communication has demonstrated that dogs are extremely responsive to human cues, such as pointing, eye gazing and vocalisations. Because dogs are so receptive to such cues, it is reasonable to assume that subtle feedback from humans has an impact on the efficacy of dog training. Timing of reinforcement in the field of dog beha...
This study examined the ability of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) to detect the scent of the Cook Strait tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus), Marlborough green gecko (Naultinus manukanus) and forest gecko (Hoplodactylus granulatus). Handlers from two local dog training clubs with a total of 20 dogs participated in this study. The dogs capacity to dete...
Training a dog to detect tuatara for conservation. Poster presented at the Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour and Australasian Evolution Society, 32nd conference, Adelaide, Australia, April 2004.
Projects
Project (1)
We are exploring if beaches are safe based on beach litter interactions that humans and our companion animals have when visiting the beach. This research involves determining the scale of the beach litter issue in New Zealand; the geography of beach litter; reported (insurance claims) and self-reported (surveys) injuries received from beach litter; and peoples' behaviours and interactions associated with litter at coastal locations. This research takes a first step towards addressing the beach litter issues by placing into a social frame of risk behaviours.
