Unveiling the “secret” of play in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris): asymmetry and signals
Due to their playful propensity, dogs are a good model to test some hypotheses about play dynamics (length, asymmetry, features of players) and communication (play bow [PBOW]; relaxed open-mouth [ROM] display). We video-recorded 203 play sessions between dogs in an off-leash dog park in Palermo, Ita...
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ftunivpisairis:oai:arpi.unipi.it:11568/941478 2024-02-11T10:02:43+01:00 Unveiling the “secret” of play in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris): asymmetry and signals Giada Cordoni Velia Nicotra Elisabetta Palagi Cordoni, Giada Nicotra, Velia Palagi, Elisabetta 2016 STAMPA http://hdl.handle.net/11568/941478 https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000035 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000383249800010 volume:130 firstpage:278 lastpage:287 numberofpages:10 journal:JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY http://hdl.handle.net/11568/941478 doi:10.1037/com0000035 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-84964546721 Canis lupus familiaris familiarity polyadic play face-to-face communication signal detectability info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2016 ftunivpisairis https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000035 2024-01-17T18:00:01Z Due to their playful propensity, dogs are a good model to test some hypotheses about play dynamics (length, asymmetry, features of players) and communication (play bow [PBOW]; relaxed open-mouth [ROM] display). We video-recorded 203 play sessions between dogs in an off-leash dog park in Palermo, Italy. Contrary to the expectation, play asymmetry (particularly high in this species) did not differ between stranger and familiar dogs, thus suggesting the limited role of play in forming dominance relationships. Asymmetry negatively affected the duration of the session, whereas the increasing number of players was positively linked to the duration of playful interactions. The number of PBOWs exchanged by players may exert a certain influence on the session length as well. PBOWs were performed independently from the kind of play (locomotor vs. contact) the dogs were engaging in. Conversely, ROMs were preferentially emitted during contact play when “face-to-face” interactions were more likely. Body closeness is also required in case opening the mouth has not a signal function but only preludes a bite. However, in the 82% of cases play bites did not follow a ROM, thus suggesting that dogs place ROMs in the appropriate context to optimize signal detectability. In conclusion, 2 tactics may concur in coping with the asymmetry and unpredictability of play sessions in dogs. First, whenever the asymmetry increases dogs shorten the duration of their sessions thus limiting the risk of possible escalation. Second, dogs make use of a good communicative system based on the reciprocal exchange of playful signals. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus ARPI - Archivio della Ricerca dell'Università di Pisa Palermo ENVELOPE(-63.600,-63.600,-65.067,-65.067) Journal of Comparative Psychology 130 3 278 287 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
ARPI - Archivio della Ricerca dell'Università di Pisa |
op_collection_id |
ftunivpisairis |
language |
English |
topic |
Canis lupus familiaris familiarity polyadic play face-to-face communication signal detectability |
spellingShingle |
Canis lupus familiaris familiarity polyadic play face-to-face communication signal detectability Giada Cordoni Velia Nicotra Elisabetta Palagi Unveiling the “secret” of play in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris): asymmetry and signals |
topic_facet |
Canis lupus familiaris familiarity polyadic play face-to-face communication signal detectability |
description |
Due to their playful propensity, dogs are a good model to test some hypotheses about play dynamics (length, asymmetry, features of players) and communication (play bow [PBOW]; relaxed open-mouth [ROM] display). We video-recorded 203 play sessions between dogs in an off-leash dog park in Palermo, Italy. Contrary to the expectation, play asymmetry (particularly high in this species) did not differ between stranger and familiar dogs, thus suggesting the limited role of play in forming dominance relationships. Asymmetry negatively affected the duration of the session, whereas the increasing number of players was positively linked to the duration of playful interactions. The number of PBOWs exchanged by players may exert a certain influence on the session length as well. PBOWs were performed independently from the kind of play (locomotor vs. contact) the dogs were engaging in. Conversely, ROMs were preferentially emitted during contact play when “face-to-face” interactions were more likely. Body closeness is also required in case opening the mouth has not a signal function but only preludes a bite. However, in the 82% of cases play bites did not follow a ROM, thus suggesting that dogs place ROMs in the appropriate context to optimize signal detectability. In conclusion, 2 tactics may concur in coping with the asymmetry and unpredictability of play sessions in dogs. First, whenever the asymmetry increases dogs shorten the duration of their sessions thus limiting the risk of possible escalation. Second, dogs make use of a good communicative system based on the reciprocal exchange of playful signals. |
author2 |
Cordoni, Giada Nicotra, Velia Palagi, Elisabetta |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Giada Cordoni Velia Nicotra Elisabetta Palagi |
author_facet |
Giada Cordoni Velia Nicotra Elisabetta Palagi |
author_sort |
Giada Cordoni |
title |
Unveiling the “secret” of play in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris): asymmetry and signals |
title_short |
Unveiling the “secret” of play in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris): asymmetry and signals |
title_full |
Unveiling the “secret” of play in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris): asymmetry and signals |
title_fullStr |
Unveiling the “secret” of play in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris): asymmetry and signals |
title_full_unstemmed |
Unveiling the “secret” of play in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris): asymmetry and signals |
title_sort |
unveiling the “secret” of play in dogs (canis lupus familiaris): asymmetry and signals |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11568/941478 https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000035 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-63.600,-63.600,-65.067,-65.067) |
geographic |
Palermo |
geographic_facet |
Palermo |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000383249800010 volume:130 firstpage:278 lastpage:287 numberofpages:10 journal:JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY http://hdl.handle.net/11568/941478 doi:10.1037/com0000035 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-84964546721 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000035 |
container_title |
Journal of Comparative Psychology |
container_volume |
130 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
278 |
op_container_end_page |
287 |
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1790598777964331008 |