Executive functions in a population of guide dog candidates

Abstract

Dogs in various working roles undergo careful selection and rigorous training, but organisations still face high failure rates due to behavioural issues. Identifying potential indicators of working success in dogs early on can save valuable resources and improve success rates. Previous research has indicated that cognitive abilities, particularly executive functions (EFs) like inhibition and working memory, might be important factors for working dog success, but more work is needed to understand the relationship between EF skills and working success in dogs. The present study included 147 dogs from a dog guide breeding and training organisation. Two samples of dogs were assessed. One group of young puppies underwent laboratory-based cognitive tests to measure inhibition (n=50) and working memory (n=36). Puppy raisers for a second, partially overlapping, group of adolescent dogs (n=98) completed the Dog Executive Function Scale (DEFS), which measures six components of EF: Behavioural Flexibility, Motor Regulation, Delay Inhibition, Working Memory, Instruction Following, and Attention Towards Owner. The dogs' training outcomes were categorised as either success or released. Most measures were not associated with working success and reasons for this are discussed. However, motor inhibition in puppies and attention towards the puppy raiser in adolescent dogs were associated with working success, with motor inhibition being particularly informative. While puppies who made up to two errors on an A-not-B task were approximately equally likely to be successful or released, of fourteen puppies who made three or more errors on this task, only one was successful. This highly significant finding suggests that assessing EF skills in young dogs can help predict their potential for success as working dogs, potentially providing a means of optimising resources and interventions and ultimately improving selection and training processes.