Interspecific communication in dogs and wolves: How big are the differences?

BENTOSELA, M.; WYNNE, C; D´ORAZIO, M; ELGIER, A; BENTOSELA, M.

Congreso; 17th Meeting of the International Society for Comparative Psychology; 2014

The remarkable communicative skills of domestic dogs towards people were traditionally attributed to the intense process of domestication. However, recent evidence shows that ontogenetic variables such as socialization and learning history are also involved in communication mechanisms. To contribute to this debate, we made two studies. In the first one, the aim was to compare the performance of socialized wolves with family dogs in the use of human gaze plus head turning as cues to find hidden food. Both groups had a similar performance, showing that the experiences during ontogeny may have a fundamental role in the development of interspecific communicative responses. In the second study the objectives were, at first, to assess the levels of sociability towards a stranger and towards the owner/caretaker in human-socialized wolves and dogs. On the other hand, to study gaze duration as a communicative response towards a familiar person when there is food at sight but out of reach. The results showed that dogs have a greater interest in interacting with people than wolves, and this could be associated with a better performance in some communicative tasks. These differences in the social trends of dogs and wolves can influence the relative success of each subspecies in the shared environment with humans.