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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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/2318/1864129 https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000035 |
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ftunivtorino:oai:iris.unito.it:2318/1864129 2023-10-29T02:35:32+01:00 Unveiling the "secret" of play in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris): Asymmetry and signals Cordoni G. Nicotra V. Palagi E. Cordoni G. Nicotra V. Palagi E. 2016 http://hdl.handle.net/2318/1864129 https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000035 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/27124401 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000383249800010 volume:130 issue:3 firstpage:278 lastpage:287 numberofpages:10 journal:JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY http://hdl.handle.net/2318/1864129 doi:10.1037/com0000035 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-84964546721 info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess Canis lupus familiari Face-to-face communication Familiarity Polyadic play Signal detectability Animal Mouth Video Recording Wolve Animal Communication Behavior Dog Play and Playthings info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2016 ftunivtorino https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000035 2023-10-03T22:31:57Z 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 Università degli studi di Torino: AperTo (Archivio Istituzionale ad Accesso Aperto) Journal of Comparative Psychology 130 3 278 287 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Università degli studi di Torino: AperTo (Archivio Istituzionale ad Accesso Aperto) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtorino |
language |
English |
topic |
Canis lupus familiari Face-to-face communication Familiarity Polyadic play Signal detectability Animal Mouth Video Recording Wolve Animal Communication Behavior Dog Play and Playthings |
spellingShingle |
Canis lupus familiari Face-to-face communication Familiarity Polyadic play Signal detectability Animal Mouth Video Recording Wolve Animal Communication Behavior Dog Play and Playthings Cordoni G. Nicotra V. Palagi E. Unveiling the "secret" of play in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris): Asymmetry and signals |
topic_facet |
Canis lupus familiari Face-to-face communication Familiarity Polyadic play Signal detectability Animal Mouth Video Recording Wolve Animal Communication Behavior Dog Play and Playthings |
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 G. Nicotra V. Palagi E. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cordoni G. Nicotra V. Palagi E. |
author_facet |
Cordoni G. Nicotra V. Palagi E. |
author_sort |
Cordoni G. |
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/2318/1864129 https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000035 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/27124401 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000383249800010 volume:130 issue:3 firstpage:278 lastpage:287 numberofpages:10 journal:JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY http://hdl.handle.net/2318/1864129 doi:10.1037/com0000035 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-84964546721 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
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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