Impact of Training Discipline and Experience on Inhibitory Control and Cognitive Performance in Pet Dogs

Get ready to embark on a dog-gone fascinating adventure through the minds of our four-legged friends! Published by MDPI in Animals journal, a delightful study led by Nerys Mellor, Sebastian McBride, Emma Stoker, and Sarah Dalesman from Aberystwyth University and Puppy Plus Training and Behaviour Services is shaking up the way we understand how different training disciplines can impact pet dogs' cognitive abilities. From their base at Aberystwyth and Newtown in the UK, this talented team of researchers is bringing fresh insights into the world of scent work, agility, and obedience training. 

The study examines the impact of different types of training on pet dogs' cognitive abilities, specifically their inhibitory control in cognitive tasks. While previous research has focused on comparing highly trained working or sporting dogs with untrained pet dogs, this study explores the effects of training pet dogs in scent work, agility, and obedience on their ability to perform in two tasks that require inhibitory control.

The two tasks assessed in the study are the A-not-B task and the detour task. In the A-not-B task, a dog must inhibit a previously learned response to go to a pot on one side of a three-pot lineup to obtain a reward and instead change its behavior to go to the pot on the opposite side. The detour task requires the dog to navigate around a transparent barrier to obtain a visible reward, inhibiting the direct approach to the food.

The study found that dogs trained in scent work demonstrated higher levels of inhibitory control and persistence across both tasks, suggesting that scent training can benefit pet dogs by improving behaviors that require inhibition. This could make scent training a valuable tool for pet owners looking to improve their dogs' cognitive abilities.

Interestingly, while combined training experience improved learning in the A-not-B task's training phase, it did not affect performance during the test phase or in the detour task. Overall, there was a relationship between performance in the A-not-B task and the detour task, indicating a shared cognitive ability underlying performance in both tasks.

The findings suggest that training discipline can affect a dog's cognitive performance and behavioral phenotype. Therefore, the study emphasizes the need for future research to account for the specific training discipline, rather than categorizing dogs into broad groups of highly trained versus untrained.