It’s fair to say that most dogs like toys. In fact, if you show the right toy to the right dog, it might be hard for them to think about anything else. Take it from Dr. Ellen Furlong.
Once, as part of a student’s thesis project, Furlong—an Associate Professor of Psychology at Transylvania University in Kentucky—tried to test whether dogs could do simple math. The experiment involved putting up an opaque screen, dropping two toys behind it while a dog watched, and then removing the screen to reveal a total of one, two, or three toys. The humans manipulated the actual number of toys, out of the dogs’ sight, to produce results that would be expected or surprising for a dog who understood addition.
If dogs could do the math, the thinking went, they’d look for a longer time at surprising numbers of toys (1+1 = 3 or 1+1 = 1 would be surprising results), than unsurprising numbers (1+1 = 2 makes sense). Scientists call this paradigm “violation of expectation.” It can work, but in this case the researchers discovered that they had a problem—they had chosen to use tennis balls, and the dogs in the study stared longer when there were more tennis balls—whether or not the math was correct. Other studies, though, have shown that dogs can do this type of counting.
“They were just like, ‘This is awesome!’” Dr. Furlong says of the dogs’ reaction to increasing numbers of tennis balls. (As a side note: tennis balls are not the best choice for dogs—similar balls designed specifically for canine use are safer.)
In Dr. Furlong’s experience, she says, “Dogs assume that if we show them a [dog] toy, then it’s for them. And then they won’t pay attention [to the purpose of the experiment]… they just get so overwhelmed and excited.”
Dr. Furlong’s lab has had more success using toys that dogs find less exciting for these types of experiments. Now, they favor hard-plastic toys designed for human babies, which dogs don’t like as much. That way, they can concentrate better. “Dogs don’t seem to have any expectation,” she says, “that a hard plastic thing is going to be a lot of fun.”
In this one context, it pays to use toys that dogs could take or leave. But, most of the time, we want dogs to love and be motivated by their toys. So what is it about certain toys that makes them so captivating to dogs—and how can we pick ones that will keep our best friends busy and happy? Below, we try to fetch the answer.
To figure out what toys are fun for dogs, think like a dog.
Dr. Furlong says that the best toys for dogs let them take part in behaviors that are natural for them, and use their strongest senses.
“I think people put too much emphasis on what things look like,” she says, “because, for humans, vision is so important. And for dogs, vision is not that important.”
A recent study conducted by researchers at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest found that dogs asked to retrieve particular objects first approached ones that had the right shape—showing that they do use their vision—but that they mostly chose objects with the right texture. Other studies have shown that sound and smell are very important to dogs.
When selecting a toy for your dog, consider senses like smell, sound, and touch.
“Texture is important for them,” says Dr. Furlong, “so you can think about toys that crinkle versus toys that are soft versus toys that have that ‘gummy’ quality when they chew on them.” Varying textures like this will go a longer way than, for example, varying color.
Squeaky toys might excite your dog, because sound matters to them—and, if you can’t stand the sound, some companies make squeakers that are audible to dogs but not people.
You can engage a dog’s sense of smell using puzzles or chews stuffed with foods they like. Even smells that a toy incidentally acquires can make it more attractive to a pup. “This is why your dog might pick up some other dog’s abandoned ball at the park,” says Dr. Furlong. “It might offer some interesting scent experiences that they haven’t encountered before.”
Dogs like new toys
Like people, dogs are interested in new things.
Dr. Daniel Mills, a Professor of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine at the University of Lincoln in England, was one of the authors of a study about dogs’ neophilia—preference for novelty. In a test, given a choice, participating dogs opted for an unfamiliar toy 38 out of 50 times. This is one of multiple studies suggesting that dogs like new toys.
In general, it’s good to acknowledge the fact that dogs can experience boredom. If you want to throw the same toy for the twentieth time, and your dog doesn’t feel like fetching it, that doesn’t mean something is wrong with them. They might need something more interesting to do. If they don’t want to fetch, for example, try tug. If they don’t like that, consider a food puzzle. If they want to relax for a little bit, that’s fine too.
Dogs’ preference for novelty does not mean that you need to spend all of your money on an endless stream of ropes, balls, and squeaky rodent-esque stuffed objects. “Rotating [toys] and washing them in between,” says Dr. Mills, “will probably make them more novel.”
Dr. Furlong agrees. “Something can be new,” she says, “if it’s been at the bottom of the toy box for a while.”
Sometimes, dogs get attached to old toys
If your dog is fond of a smelly, old stuffed owl that you’ve had to repair a dozen times, their feelings could be similar to yours toward a favorite T-shirt or blanket. “It is possible for objects to take on the features of a physical attachment object,” says Dr. Mills, adding that some favorite toys may “provide comfort and reassurance” for dogs.
“Attachment bonds are what underpin the relationship between a dependent and their caregiver,” Dr. Mills explains, “but we also get safety and security from the environment—environmental attachment. So, in these cases, the toys are not a source of exploration and learning—but actually reassurance.”
If you have to part with an old favorite toy—maybe for safety reasons, so your dog doesn’t end up swallowing a squeaker or stuffing, or maybe because you lost it—there are things you can do to help make its replacement more engaging for them. One option: help them make new memories with it.
Dogs like playing with you
Using a toy to play with your dog is a good way to make it more fun and interesting for them.
“If you’re having trouble getting your dog to engage with a new toy and you want them to be able to kind of create a new friendship with it,” Dr. Furlong says, “play fetch with them a little bit, [or] play some tug.” She says that this will often help a dog “form positive associations with that new toy—because they’re really enjoying spending time with their person, too.”
Not only can using a new toy while playing with your dog help them develop positive feelings for it, but any type of enjoyable activity you do together will be good for your bond. When we spoke to Vanessa Woods, director of Duke University’s Puppy Kindergarten, she told us that puppies who engaged with their owners in a simple game called the “impossible task” for just five minutes every two weeks between the ages of 8 and 20 weeks old “made double the amount of eye contact [with their owners] as puppies who didn’t.”
Dogs like choosing toys
It’s healthy for dogs to have choices in their lives. When we spoke to Dr. Zazie Todd, a psychologist and certified dog trainer, she told us that choices are good for our pups’ mental health. Among the many choices she named was the choice of which toys to play with.
Dr. Furlong agrees. “Dogs will make a choice,” she says, “if given the opportunity.” Her own dog, Olive, gets to choose one chew every night before bed, and spends a long time considering her options. “Giving a dog a choice between a ball and a squeaky Lamb Chop,” she says, “is a good option.”
Toys can be especially beneficial to dogs who need more enrichment
In one of Dr. Furlong’s classes, students are required to make an enrichment plan for a dog. One group chose a senior beagle who’d recently gone blind, and had drastically reduced his engagement with the world around him. “He was kind of sleeping all the time,” she remembers, “and not really doing a whole lot.” Because the beagle remained food-motivated, the students’ enrichment plan for him included hiding food outside in grass for him to find, and the use of snuffle mats, lick mats, and food puzzles. Without introducing any demanding physical activities, they found that his behavior changed for the better.
“He wasn’t sleeping as much,” Dr. Furlong says. “He was getting up and exploring things more on his own.”
Every dog is different
The bottom line is that dogs are individuals—even if a recent news cycle revolved around the idea that basically all dogs are obsessed with Lamp Chop—and as long as yours is happy with their life, you’re doing great. If you give your dog a choice of toys and other enrichment activities that allow them to use their senses, let them do the ones they like best, and mix it up once in a while, it will add up to a good time.
The post Why Do Dogs Love Certain Toys? appeared first on The Farmer’s Dog - Digest.
Comments
Post a Comment