Study: Do Dogs Understand A Reflection?

[tjhowell]

Hi everyone,

I am a PhD student researching dog cognitive abilities at Monash University, under the supervision of Dr. Pauleen Bennett.

A few animal species have demonstrated an understanding of their reflection, which would indicate self-awareness. Whether this ability exists in dogs is not known, but we aim to find out.

We are looking for dogs that are at least 18 months old with two adult owners (16+ years old) who are both willing to come in to Monash University, Clayton, with their dog for approximately 30 minutes. The dog should be able to sit on the owner’s command. During this time, we will examine whether dogs understand the nature of a reflection.

If you are interested in participating in this study, please contact me at [email protected] to organise a time to come in (evenings and weekends are fine).

Thank you very much,

Tiffani

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

Hi everyone,

I am a PhD student researching dog cognitive abilities at Monash University, under the supervision of Dr. Pauleen Bennett.

A few animal species have demonstrated an understanding of their reflection, which would indicate self-awareness. Whether this ability exists in dogs is not known, but we aim to find out.

We are looking for dogs that are at least 18 months old with two adult owners (16+ years old) who are both willing to come in to Monash University, Clayton, with their dog for approximately 30 minutes. The dog should be able to sit on the owner's command. During this time, we will examine whether dogs understand the nature of a reflection.

If you are interested in participating in this study, please contact me at [email protected] to organise a time to come in (evenings and weekends are fine).

Thank you very much,

Tiffani

hmmm, can you explain why you have a requirement of two adult owners?

[tjhowell]

Hi everyone,

I am a PhD student researching dog cognitive abilities at Monash University, under the supervision of Dr. Pauleen Bennett.

A few animal species have demonstrated an understanding of their reflection, which would indicate self-awareness. Whether this ability exists in dogs is not known, but we aim to find out.

We are looking for dogs that are at least 18 months old with two adult owners (16+ years old) who are both willing to come in to Monash University, Clayton, with their dog for approximately 30 minutes. The dog should be able to sit on the owner's command. During this time, we will examine whether dogs understand the nature of a reflection.

If you are interested in participating in this study, please contact me at [email protected] to organise a time to come in (evenings and weekends are fine).

Thank you very much,

Tiffani

hmmm, can you explain why you have a requirement of two adult owners?

Sorry, I should have explained that in the first place.

We need dogs with two owners because one will be in the room with me and the dog, and the next will be in an adjoining room in front of a window holding a toy (this will be visible to the dog through the mirror, which faces the window). The purpose of having an owner with a toy on the other side of the window is to try to motivate the dog to look into the mirror. We had tried just having one owner in our pilots, with me being alone in the room with the dog. However, this raised problems because many dogs were not able to relax without their owner in the room with them, and the ones who did relax tended not to be obedient when I asked them to sit facing the mirror -- after all, why should they obey a random stranger?! Therefore, we need one owner to remain on the other side of the window with the toy, and the other owner will be in the room with me and the dog.

I hope that clarifies things somewhat.

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

Hi everyone,

I am a PhD student researching dog cognitive abilities at Monash University, under the supervision of Dr. Pauleen Bennett.

A few animal species have demonstrated an understanding of their reflection, which would indicate self-awareness. Whether this ability exists in dogs is not known, but we aim to find out.

We are looking for dogs that are at least 18 months old with two adult owners (16+ years old) who are both willing to come in to Monash University, Clayton, with their dog for approximately 30 minutes. The dog should be able to sit on the owner's command. During this time, we will examine whether dogs understand the nature of a reflection.

If you are interested in participating in this study, please contact me at [email protected] to organise a time to come in (evenings and weekends are fine).

Thank you very much,

Tiffani

hmmm, can you explain why you have a requirement of two adult owners?

Sorry, I should have explained that in the first place.

We need dogs with two owners because one will be in the room with me and the dog, and the next will be in an adjoining room in front of a window holding a toy (this will be visible to the dog through the mirror, which faces the window). The purpose of having an owner with a toy on the other side of the window is to try to motivate the dog to look into the mirror. We had tried just having one owner in our pilots, with me being alone in the room with the dog. However, this raised problems because many dogs were not able to relax without their owner in the room with them, and the ones who did relax tended not to be obedient when I asked them to sit facing the mirror -- after all, why should they obey a random stranger?! Therefore, we need one owner to remain on the other side of the window with the toy, and the other owner will be in the room with me and the dog.

I hope that clarifies things somewhat.

thank you that clarifies it well.

[Odin-Genie]

I wish I could participate but I'm in Sydney. I think my dogs understand reflections. Often, they make eye contact with my mirror reflection. As puppies, when my dog first saw his reflection, he went crazy barking non-stop. Now he calmly looks at his own reflection in the mirror. He also often watches my other dog's reflection to see what she is doing when she's not in actual sight range.

It would be fascinating to see the test results.

[ellz]

What an interesting study.

I do believe dogs understand a reflection. My first Staffordshire Bull Terrier used to go charging up the stairs in the house we lived in when we got him and stack himself up proudly in front of the mirror in the front bedroom where I used to show train him. He'd also watch himself in the black windows of the old Myer store in Hobart when we were out on walks. I used to run him up and down there to see what he looked like on the move.

Never once did he try to talk to his reflection, or even show signs that he thought there was another dog there. In my opinion he clearly knew it was himself!

[First Time Puppy Owner]

In what journal will you report your finding tjhowell? As I would really love to read about the results!

[Serket]

I wish I could participate but I'm in Sydney. I think my dogs understand reflections. Often, they make eye contact with my mirror reflection. As puppies, when my dog first saw his reflection, he went crazy barking non-stop. Now he calmly looks at his own reflection in the mirror. He also often watches my other dog's reflection to see what she is doing when she's not in actual sight range.

It would be fascinating to see the test results.

x2 (except she watches us, not another dog)

[Greytmate]

Too bad I am in Brisbane. This is interesting.

I have introduced a lot of adult dogs to mirrors for the first time...lol

It is funny to watch their first reaction and then lose interest when they find it isn't real.

Out of my four, Woody is the only one who I have seen watching me in the mirror. But greyhounds are lazy, so that was easier for him than turning his head. I think he knows that me in the mirror is me, and he will react to my mirrored hand signals, but he doesn't seem to notice his own reflection.

[Are You Serious Jo]

Dogs have never shown MSR before, what are you doing that is different? To have MSR you need the precursor of secondary representation, which no one has also found in dogs. Dog can learn to use mirrors as a tool, is this what you are investigating?

[Hetzer]

This will be an interesting experiment. When a dog perceives a mirror image, could that perception also be influenced by their other senses? There would be an absence of any animal smell or sound from the mirror, so perhaps that is a factor in a dog perceiving no "other dog" as opposed to saying to himself "ah, that's just me". From what I've observed, however, over many hours in my home gym where I have a couple of mirrors, is that my dog knows what mirrors are and what she's looking at. But the term "self-awareness" has many levels. I mean, not all human beings are at the same level of self-awareness...

[Are You Serious Jo]

Self awareness in the scientific literature has a very narrow meaning, so far only the great apes have shown self awareness, even the gibbons don't show it. There is some interesting anecdotal evidence with a dolphin, and a study with elephants but that has huge methodological issues and has been dismissed.

[chuckandsteve]

My Mum's house is split level so if her dog stands on the upper level she can see herself in the mirror below. She goes crazy when she spots herself and comes charging down the stairs ready to take on that dog that has dared to enter her house. Takes several trips up and down the stairs before she gives up. lol

[tjhowell]

Wow, this thread has picked up since I was last online! Thanks to everyone for your interest.

I wish I could participate but I'm in Sydney. I think my dogs understand reflections. Often, they make eye contact with my mirror reflection. As puppies, when my dog first saw his reflection, he went crazy barking non-stop. Now he calmly looks at his own reflection in the mirror. He also often watches my other dog's reflection to see what she is doing when she's not in actual sight range.

It would be fascinating to see the test results.

These kinds of anecdotes are really interesting to us, but how to measure them is a tricky one. Still, this is the sort of thing we'd like to answer.

In what journal will you report your finding tjhowell? As I would really love to read about the results!

It depends on what the results are, but if we have something publishable, it will probably be in a journal like Animal Cognition or Behavioural Processes (among many others). If we decide to go for gold, there's always Science Magazine haha!

Dogs have never shown MSR before, what are you doing that is different? To have MSR you need the precursor of secondary representation, which no one has also found in dogs. Dog can learn to use mirrors as a tool, is this what you are investigating?

yes, this is more the question than true MSR (otherwise we'd be doing the mark test). It's along the lines of a recent Broom study which demonstrated evidence of pigs using mirrors as a tool to solve a problem. This is in that same vein. What we want to see is, if the dog is clearly motivated by whatever it's seeing in the mirror, will they then turn around as if to say "oh, there's Mum behind me with my favourite toy" or will they be confused by it? Either way, they'll get a liver treat at the end

This will be an interesting experiment. When a dog perceives a mirror image, could that perception also be influenced by their other senses? There would be an absence of any animal smell or sound from the mirror, so perhaps that is a factor in a dog perceiving no "other dog" as opposed to saying to himself "ah, that's just me". From what I've observed, however, over many hours in my home gym where I have a couple of mirrors, is that my dog knows what mirrors are and what she's looking at. But the term "self-awareness" has many levels. I mean, not all human beings are at the same level of self-awareness...

Yes, this is a very good point and one thing we'd like to explore further. My guess is that, since dogs rely quite heavily on their sense of smell, this will certainly be a factor in their understanding of a reflection (or lack thereof). But again, this is just a guess because it hasn't been researched to our knowledge. And self-awareness does indeed have a very specific definition in scientific literature, so we're taking a step back to see if dogs can even understand the nature of a reflection.

Come one, come all! It'll be fun

[Staranais]

yes, this is more the question than true MSR (otherwise we'd be doing the mark test).

That's when they put a mark on the animal's fur in a place where it can't see it itself (e.g. forehead), show the animal itself in a mirror, and see if the animal then understands that it has been marked, right? I read a little bit about them doing that with elephants.

I don't think my dog understands that it's her in the mirror, but she does understand that it isn't a real dog.

It will be interesting to see what you discover.

[Hetzer]

If I was closer I'd definitely participate with my dog. I have always wondered what it would be like to perceive the world from a canine perspective, and the concept of self-awareness would be a big part of that immersion. I don't know if I'm prone to a little anthromorphising, but its difficult for me to imagine a dog as having all those emotional, problem-solving and social skills without having a concept of "self". Maybe this is simply because as a human you always have your own consciousness as a limiting reference point.

[tjhowell]

yes, this is more the question than true MSR (otherwise we'd be doing the mark test).

That's when they put a mark on the animal's fur in a place where it can't see it itself (e.g. forehead), show the animal itself in a mirror, and see if the animal then understands that it has been marked, right? I read a little bit about them doing that with elephants.

I don't think my dog understands that it's her in the mirror, but she does understand that it isn't a real dog.

It will be interesting to see what you discover.

That's the one!

Elephants and dolphins may have evidence of self-recognition, but as another poster said, it's pretty contentious.

If I was closer I'd definitely participate with my dog. I have always wondered what it would be like to perceive the world from a canine perspective, and the concept of self-awareness would be a big part of that immersion. I don't know if I'm prone to a little anthromorphising, but its difficult for me to imagine a dog as having all those emotional, problem-solving and social skills without having a concept of "self". Maybe this is simply because as a human you always have your own consciousness as a limiting reference point.

One of the discussions in animal cognition is exactly this problem: using human capabilities as the benchmark by which we measure all other animals' cognitive skills. On the one hand, we're the ones asking the questions so we are the ones who get to make the rules. On the other hand, why is a dog's superior sense of smell or an eagle's exceptional vision not considered as valuable as human logic, when we all have evolutionary reasons for developing the way we did? It's an interesting philosophical debate, to which I have no answers.

But as far as anthropomorphising is concerned, I personally think there's a happy medium SOMEWHERE between "dogs are people too" and "dogs are automatons with no thoughts or feelings". Where that happy medium sits is a fundamental question in animal cognition research.

[JulesP]

I was standing in front of fairly reflective glass last weekend, cleaning my gutters. My super quiet border collie went nuts growling and barking. He was barking at my reflection that looked like it was in the house. The other dogs were there too but he didn't react to their reflection, just mine.

Without saying anything I wriggled my fingers. He continued to growl until he noticed me waving. I stopped. He growled a bit more. I waved and he looked from the reflection to my hand and back and stopped barking. He didn't growl again.

[Aidan]

One of my dogs will bark at our cats if she sees them through the bevelled-edged glass in our doors. At all other times, the cats are her babies. I suspect many dogs (but possibly there are some individual and breed related differences) just haven't evolved to use visual information very effectively.

If mirrors also gave "smell information" dogs would recognise themselves pretty easily (but I realise there is much more to the argument than just this).

[animalia]

I heard that an Australian university tried to do an experiment like this and it turned out that dogs had no self awareness when looking into the mirror, (maybe Melbourne or Monash uni in Vic). They would put a dog in front of a mirror and beam a Lazar light onto the dogs chest area and see if the dog would make the connection that the light was actually on him and look on himself to find the light, but not one dog made the connection. Chimps would make the connection when the Lazar was on them they would see it on themselves in the mirror make the connection and look down on the selves to find it on them. Is this a similar experiment to what you're doing? I'm not sure if explained myself properly