Dog-dog team: social cooperation from a rat model to autonomic patrol canine
Abstract
Social cooperation among all species can be modulated via positive experience such as rewards or in avoiding negative punishments or threats. In humans, the activation of reward-related networks and deactivation of anxiety-related networks are not specific to long-term relationships nor to short-term attachments and cooperation between individuals. Melis et al.(2006) tested cooperative abilities in chimpanzee. In short, six pairs of chimpanzee were presented to novel food retrieval task which required simultaneous pulling of two ropes to obtain food which required cooperation. If only one chimpanzee pulled the rope from one end, it unthreads. In later study. comparing two types of chimpanzees (bonobos vs common chimpanzee) revealed that bonobos (higher tolerance level of behavior) cooperate better than the common chimpanzee. Interestingly, this task was replicated and introduced to elephants. Not surprisingly, the elephants succeeded in coordinating the rope pulling and were highly successful in waiting for their counterparts in the delayed release. Similar cooperation was observed in Rooks (Corvus frugi legus) and rats. To this end, the ability to cooperate through coordinating movement can yielded significant benefits when occupying dogs, mainly in patrol and detection missions. In our preliminary study we have examined the benefits from social cooperation as observed among saluki dogs, during natural and autonomic patrol for hunting, when all dogs profit from work ing together. In addition. the natural role play among group of cooperating dogs and their physiological resiliency lo cover large areas; together led us to postulate that social cooperation among canine may form a novel dog-dog team concept, thus be valuable in various patrol and detection tasks. e.g., detecting human threats. Considering the versatile environment conditions that the cooperating canine will need to cope with (open fields as well as bushy areas), we have screened more than 24 potential strains and have decided to focus on the Saluki, in addition to the Belgian Shepherd (Malinois) as a control strain. The Saluki has a compact body and well-developed limbs. Slightly longer than he is tall, the Saluki has a broad chest and firm hindquarters that contribute to his nexible, energized appearance. The Saluki is compact, robust, enthusiastic and tireless working dog. In their natural hunting ability, the alukis work all day even in intense heat, covering 1,000 to 4,000 plus acres. The Saluki is not an aggressive dog. but he can be protective when needed, and will guard his family and their belongings when necessary, regardless of the risk to himself. With the deep intell igence which this breed exhibits comes a high dominance level. All these abilities are manifested while acting as a group (usually 4-6 individuals). "Threat" is defined as an intruder to the Saluki familiar zone, and will be positioned in a camounaged setup. Our main objective is to establish an effective model for threat detection throughout active patrol. Translating our accumulating results derived from our rat model for cooperative behavior, each group of dogs will be composed from 2 alpha members and two beta members. Each group of Saluki dogs will be tested at two patrol levels: 1-Autonomic, which rely on thcirnatural and wild exploration. 2- Active. which is dominated by handler guidance. Moreover, Saluki dog performance will be compared with Belgian shepherd (Malinois) as a control stain that has different behavioral characteristics as well as natural background (using GPS and cameras). Last but not least, we will aim to explore variables mediating social cooperation in our rat valid model, and to generate novel parameters that will enable us to better understnad the behavioral mechanisms of Dog-Dog teams and shed light on the social decision-making.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 12, 2017
- Source ID
- W911NF1510485
Entities
People
- Avraham Avital
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- United States Army