Unveiling the "secret" of play in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris): Asymmetry and signals

• Published in: Journal of Comparative Psychology
• Main Authors: Cordoni G., Nicotra V., Palagi E.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Canis lupus familiari; Face-to-face communication; Familiarity; Polyadic play; Signal detectability; Animal; Mouth; Video Recording; Wolve; Animal Communication; Behavior; Dog; Play and Playthings; Palermo; Canis lupus
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2318/1864129; https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000035

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...