Dogs fail to reciprocate the receipt of food from a human in a food-giving task.

ABSTRACT: Domestic dogs have been shown to reciprocate help received from conspecifics in food-giving tasks. However, it is not yet known whether dogs also reciprocate help received from humans. Here, we investigated whether dogs reciprocate the receipt of food from humans. In an experience phase, subjects encountered a helpful human who provided them with food by activating a food dispenser, and an unhelpful human who did not provide them with food. Subjects later had the opportunity to return food to each human type, in a test phase, via the same mechanism. In addition, a free interaction session was conducted in which the subject was free to interact with its owner and with whichever human partner it had encountered on that day. Two studies were carried out, which differed in the complexity of th

SUBMITTER: McGetrick J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8279367 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature