Erica N Feuerbacher

Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) | VT · School of Animal Sciences

Separation-related problem behavior (SRPB) is a severe behavioral issue in which dogs engage in a variety of undesirable behaviors when the owner is absent, such as destructive behavior and excessive vocalization. Given the severity and high prevalence of SRPB, finding effective treatments is crucial. To date, most treatments have relied on habitua...

Despite the prevalence of reinforcement-based training practices in animal training, little research has investigated how to enhance the efficacy of delivered consequences; effective reinforcers are critical for maintaining long chains of behavior, such as in working animals, and for competing with environmental reinforcers. Two potentially easy me...

Dogs and wolves both show attachment-like behaviors to their owners/caregivers, including exploring more in the presence of the owner/caregiver, and greeting the owner/caregiver more effusively after an absence. Concurrent choice studies can elucidate dogs’ and wolves’ relationship to their owners/caregivers by assessing their preference for the ow...

Research on owner-dog relationships suggests that they have remarkable features, paralleling those of infant to parents. In this study, we investigated whether, after being separated, access to the owner would function as a reinforcer for domestic dog behavior. We then conducted a functional analysis to determine the specific functional reinforcer...

Dogs are often housed alone in shelter settings to reduce injury and disease spread. However, social isolation can be a stressor for dogs. Prior studies have suggested that cohousing can produce behavioral and physiological benefits. These studies have typically focused on laboratory dogs or shelter dogs that have been kenneled for several months....

When pet dogs demonstrate certain serious problem behaviors, this may lead owners to choose behavioral euthanasia. However, research on behavioral euthanasia of pet dogs is sparse and previously published papers have not specifically sampled owners who made the decision to euthanize for behavior. The Behavioral Euthanasia in Pet Dogs Questionnaire...

Human interaction is one of the most consistently effective interventions that can improve the welfare of shelter-living dogs. Time out of the kennel with a person has been shown to reduce physiological measures of stress as can leaving the shelter for a night or more in a foster home. In this study, we assessed the effects of brief outings and tem...

Simple Summary Domestic dogs have a wide variety of colorations, and previous research has found that, in certain breeds, coat color can be linked to behavior. However, it is unknown if coloration is connected to dogs’ stress responses. To explore this question, we studied dogs living under stressful conditions: an animal shelter. We analyzed their...

Simple Summary Pet dogs are more prone to exhibit challenging behaviors than ever before. Dog trainers are increasingly tasked with helping pet owners resolve behavior issues, not just teach their charges good manners. The interventions used by professionals to help ameliorate behavior complaints must be evidence-based and include the effectiveness...

Prior research has produced mixed results on whether human social interaction can function as a reinforcer for dog behavior. However, that research used either short durations of social interaction or rapid, repeated trials such that satiation could have been a factor. We investigated whether two durations of social interaction (30 s or 4 s petting...

This work presents the collection and analysis of animal-robot interaction in a pasture setting necessary to support the development of an autonomous platform for maintenance of occupied pastures. Cows (B. taurus) and horses (E. caballus) were introduced to a teleoperated robot platform under differing modes of operation. Animal proximity to the ro...

Positive reinforcement is becoming more common in horse training. Identifying effective reinforcers is critical for training success. The aim of this study was to determine relative reinforcer efficacy of different grains. Four horses learned to muzzle touch a target, after which they were tested using a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement...

Dogs experience a variety of stressors within the shelter that could negatively impact their welfare. The use of enrichment interventions that provide social interaction, either with a human or canine; object enrichment; and sensory stimulation (auditory, olfactory, or visual) is necessary for dogs living in animal shelters, along with the assessme...

Each year, millions of dogs enter thousands of animal shelters across the United States. Life in the shelter can be stressful, and one type of intervention that improves dogs' experience is human interaction, particularly stays in foster homes. Prior research has demonstrated that fostering can reduce dogs' cortisol and increase their resting activ...

Our objective was to determine the impact of different habituation protocols on beef cattle behavior, physiology, and temperament in response to human handling. Beef heifers were exposed to three habituation strategies: (1) tactile stimulation (brushing) in the working chute for seven consecutive days (STI; n = 18); (2) passage through the working...

Social isolation likely contributes to reduced welfare for shelter-living dogs. Several studies have established that time out of the kennel with a person can improve dogs’ behavior and reduce physiological measures of stress. This study assessed the effects of two-and-a-half-hour outings on the urinary cortisol levels and activity of dogs as they...

A growing number of studies make claims about canine sociability in both applied and basic contexts. Yet, there is currently no standard for measuring sociability in dogs. The purpose of this two-part study was to determine whether procedural differences among canine sociability tests would affect dogs’ behavior. In Experiment 1, we used a mixed-su...

Although prior research has suggested the function of socially reinforced problem behavior can change across time, the stability of the function of automatically reinforced behavior is largely unknown. Further, some authors have suggested automatically reinforced behavior is likely to enter into socially mediated contingencies. The present study co...

One of the greatest stressors for dogs living in animal shelters is social isolation. Many studies have demonstrated that human interaction reduces cortisol in shelter dogs, with the possibility that longer periods of interaction may yield greater effects. These types of interventions are contingent upon removing the dog from the kennel and any suc...

The unique relationship between dog and owner has been demonstrated in several experimental procedures, including tests in which dogs are left alone or with a stranger, tests of dogs’ appeasement or social approach when petted by their owner or a stranger, and their ability to learn when taught by their owner or a stranger. In all cases, dogs respo...

Growing evidence shows that dogs can complete complex behavioral tasks, such as learning labels for hundreds of objects, readily learning the name of a novel object, and responding differentially to objects by category (e.g., " toy, " " ball, " " Frisbee "). We expand here on the evidence for complex behavioral abilities in dogs by demonstrating th...

Research in the cognitive abilities of animals spans a vast array of species from invertebrates to primates, as well as cognitive domains, including social cognition, object permanence, fairness, and cognitive biases. Whereas ultimate causes are often explored and investigated in detail, proximate causes, such as learning effects, are often neglect...

Previous research has indicated both petting (McIntire & Colley, 1967) and food (Feuerbacher & Wynne, 2012) have reinforcing effects on dog behavior and support social behavior towards humans (food: Elliot & King, 1960; social interaction: Brodbeck, 1954). Which type of interaction dogs prefer and which might produce the most social behavior from a...

In this chapter we attempt to put the dog back at the heart of dog cognition studies. We identify that the majority of dogs are not first-world pets, dependent on their owners for the fulfillment of all essential needs, and acting as their ‘‘best friends.’’ Rather most dogs are scavengers on the periphery of people’s lives. These dogs are more like...

Despite the intimate relationship dogs share with humans in Western society, we know relatively little about the variables that produce and maintain dog social behavior towards humans. One possibility is that human social interaction is itself a reinforcer for dog behavior. As an initial assessment of the variables that might maintain dog social be...

The modern resurgence in psychological experiments involving dogs follows a long and rich tradition of using dogs as experimental subjects in psychology. Except for a few exceptions (e.g., Pavlov, and Scott and Fuller), much of this research is often overlooked. We trace the history of dogs as experimental psychological subjects: The work of Darwin...

In this study we tested the effect of pollen and nectar loading on metabolic rate (in mW) and wingbeat frequency during hovering, and also examined the effect of pollen loading on wing kinematics and mechanical power output. Pollen foragers had hovering metabolic rates approximately 10% higher than nectar foragers, regardless of the amount of load...

Although many inserts carry loads during flight, the energetic cost of load carriage remains poorly understood. Honey bee foragers provide a useful model system for evaluating the energetics of load carriage in flying insects. Honey bees coiled pollen and nectar which are carried in different manners (pollen is carried externally on the legs while...