Do pets influence the quantity and choice of food offered to them by their owners: lessons from other animals and the pre-verbal human infant?

Abstract

Abstract All social animals influence each other's behaviour. One area of particular interest is the social interaction that occurs between pets and their owners. Within pet-owner dyads, food and feeding are always part of the dyadic ritual. In this review, we hypothesize that feeding can be considered to be a push-pull relationship where pets are, at least in part, able to 'negotiate' with their owner to influence 'when', 'what' and 'how much' they are fed. We examine the evidence that supports this hypothesis by appraising similar studies of other animals and the pre-verbal human infant. First, we review the differences in approaches and methodologies that exist between disciplines within the behavioural sciences. Second, the feeding behaviour of neonatal wild animals and pre-verbal infants is examined in terms of its causation, ontogeny, phytogeny and adaptation. Finally, the resulting knowledge concerning begging as honest signals of need, scramble competition, reconciliation and consolation is applied to domestic pets with the objective of understanding of how owners are influenced by the feeding behaviour of their pets.