Abstract
This research focuses on sex differences in the behavioral patterns of dogs when they are exposed to human chemosignals (sweat) produced in happy and fear contexts. No age, breed or apparatus-directed behavior differences were found. However, when exposed to fear chemosignals, dogs’ behavior towards their owners, and their stress signals lasted longer when compared to being exposed to happiness as well as control chemosignals. In the happy odor condition, females, in contrast to males, displayed a significantly higher interest to the stranger compared to their owner. In the fear condition, dogs spent more time with their owner compared to the stranger. Behaviors directed towards the door, indicative of exit interest, had a longer duration in the fear condition than the other two conditions. Female dogs revealed a significantly longer door-directed behavior in the fear condition compared to the control condition. Overall the data shows that the effect of exposure to human emotional chemosignals is not sex dependent for behaviors related to the apparatus, the owner or the stress behaviors; however, in the happiness condition, females showed a stronger tendency to interact with the stranger.
Highlights
In terms of their investment in the reproduction process, females are biologically preconfigured to nurture and care for their offspring; whereas, male fitness is marked by the number of females they have inseminated (Fitzpatrick et al 1995; Rubenstein and Lovette 2009; Rosvall 2011)
The current study extends our earlier research (D’Aniello et al 2018) by examining sex differences in behavioral patterns of male and female dogs in response to human chemosignals produced under happy and fear conditions
Approach The dog approaches the target. This behaviour was recorded when the dog was moving toward the door, the apparatus and the people
Summary
In terms of their investment in the reproduction process, females are biologically preconfigured to nurture and care for their offspring; whereas, male fitness is marked by the number of females they have inseminated (Fitzpatrick et al 1995; Rubenstein and Lovette 2009; Rosvall 2011) Such sex-specific differences of behavioral traits can emerge as a result of sexual selection via mate choice and intra-sexual competition (Schuett et al 2010). Lateralization was reported to be sex dependent, with most studies reporting male dogs prevalently to be left-pawed, while females appeared prevalently right-pawed (Wells 2003; Quaranta et al 2004) This effect might be weak since some studies were not able to replicate these results (Branson and Rogers 2006; Poyser et al 2006; Schneider et al 2013). Exploring sex differences in dogs is a flourishing research field, to our knowledge, research reporting differences in emotional reactivity by the two sexes are missing
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