Partner preferences and asymmetries in social play among domestic dog, Canis lupus familiaris, littermates

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.06.004

Animal Behaviour

Volume 76, Issue 4, October 2008, Pages 1187-1199

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.06.004 Get rights and content

We videotaped behaviour in four litters of domestic dogs to explore social play and the development of relationships within litters. We collected data when the puppies were between 3 and 40 weeks of age, but collection times varied by litter. We divided data analysis into three time periods to coincide approximately with critical periods in the early social development of dogs. Early play-partner preferences were associated with preferences in later time periods, and the tendency for puppies to prefer specific partners increased over time. Play did not conform to 50–50 symmetry of roles between partners, which some researchers claim is necessary to sustain play. In the later juvenile period (time 3), dogs who engaged in high rates of offense behaviours (e.g. chasing, forcing partners down) also initiated play at higher rates, implying that winning during play may become more important as puppies mature. Self-handicapping behaviours were positively associated with play signalling, suggesting that, like play signals, self-handicapping may function to indicate playful intent. In mixed-sex dyads, males initiated play, engaged in offense behaviours, and self-handicapped more than females. Females were more likely to initiate with females across all time periods, but males were more likely to initiate with males only in time 3. We discuss results from mixed- and same-sex interactions with reference to inter- and intrasexual competition. The types of offense and self-handicapping behaviours displayed were similar across litters, suggesting that the expression of these behaviours may follow a similar ontogeny in puppies in general.

Section snippets

Subjects

We observed four litters of domestic dogs (three purebred litters and one mixed-breed litter; Table 1). All dams lived in ordinary households, and all puppies whelped naturally (no caesarean births) at home. The dams suckled the puppies and weaned them prior to placement in permanent homes. Breeders supplemented nursing with solid foods starting around 4 weeks of age. Puppies from litters 2–4 remained sexually intact for the duration of the study. With the exception of one male, all of the

Results

We analysed 7.10 h of dyadic play from four litters of puppies consisting of 39 dyads and 1200 total play bouts. The average number of play bouts per dyad ( $\bar{X} \pm SD$ ) was 13.15 ± 5.13 bouts, and we coded an average of 5.22 ± 0.71 min of play per dyad across all litters and times combined.

Partner Preferences and Diversity

In time periods 1 and 2, puppies in all focal litters initiated play with most of the other individuals in their litter. However, as they matured, puppies in litter 1 concentrated on initiating play with a smaller subset of individuals. Their preferences for specific partners increased over time as diversity in partner choice decreased, and by time 3, each puppy had one strongly preferred play partner. PPP scores were consistent between early and late time periods for litter 1.

These results

Acknowledgments

We thank Monika Dressler, Lynne Coleman, Mary Westoff, Mara Markov and Pamela Fusco for allowing us to videotape their litters. We thank Kathy Welch for her statistical consultation, numerous undergraduate students for assistance with data collection and coding (especially Jane Na and Sarah Alessi) and Theresa Lee, Bobbi Low, Patricia McConnell and John Mitani for their reviews of the manuscript. This study was supported by funding from the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies at the

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Citation Excerpt :
Play improves knowledge of unfamiliar individuals and could therefore reduce the need for agonistic interactions to establish their resource-holding potential. Juvenile dogs first indiscriminately initiate play towards their siblings, increasingly focusing on fewer individuals and resulting in a consistent preference of play partner as they reach 27–40 weeks of age (Ward et al., 2008). There is evidence that play improves knowledge of unfamiliar individuals in wolves.
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¹: E. B. Bauer is at the Department of Animal Programs, Smithsonian National Zoological Park, NZP-Lion/Tiger MRC: 5507, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012, U.S.A.

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Partner preferences and asymmetries in social play among domestic dog, Canis lupus familiaris, littermates

Section snippets

Subjects

Results

Partner Preferences and Diversity

Acknowledgments

Animal Behaviour

Animal Behaviour

Animal Behaviour

Applied Animal Ethology

Animal Behaviour

Animal Behaviour

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

Animal Behaviour

Journal of Theoretical Biology

Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews

Behavioural Processes

Behavioral Biology

Animal Behaviour

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

Animal Behaviour

Animal Behaviour

Animal Behaviour

Animal Behaviour

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

Animal Behaviour

Animal Behaviour

Animal Behaviour

Dog Language

Playfighting

Observational study of behavior: sampling methods

Behaviour

The development of play in cats

Behaviour

Development of social interaction, play, and metacommunication in mammals: an ethological perspective

Quarterly Review of Biology

Social play and play-soliciting by infant canids

American Zoologist

Social play behavior

Bioscience

Play signals as punctuation: the structure of social play in canids

Behaviour

Social play behavior: cooperation, fairness, trust, and the evolution of morality

Journal of Consciousness Studies

Intentional communication and social play: how and why animals negotiate and agree to play

A critical reanalysis of the ontogeny of mammalian social and locomotor play: an ethological hornet's nest

Individual- and sex-related strategies of wrestling play in captive squirrel monkeys

Ethology