Ethogram of the analysed behaviours.

Dogs have previously been shown to synchronise their behaviour with their owner and the aim of this study was to test the effect of immediate interactions, breed, and the effects of domestication. The behavioural synchronisation test was conducted in outdoor enclosures and consisted of 30 s where the owner/handler was walking and 30 s of standing still. Three studies were conducted to explore the effect of immediate interaction (study A), the effect of breed group (study B), and the effect of domestication (study C). In study A, a group of twenty companion dogs of various breeds were tested after three different human interaction treatments: Ignore, Pet, and Play. The results showed that dogs adjusted their movement pattern to align with their owner’s actions regardless of treatment. Furthermore, exploration, eye contact, and movement were all influenced by the owners moving pattern, and exploration also decreased after the Play treatment. In study B, the synchronisation test was performed after the Ignore treatment on three groups: 24 dogs of ancient dog breeds, 17 solitary hunting dogs, and 20 companion dogs (data from study A). Irrespective of the group, all dogs synchronised their moving behaviour with their owner. In addition, human walking positively influenced eye contact behaviour while simultaneously decreasing exploration behaviour. In study C, a group of six socialised pack-living wolves and six similarly socialised pack-living dogs were tested after the Ignore treatment. Interestingly, these animals did not alter their moving behaviour in response to their handler. In conclusion, dogs living together with humans synchronise with their owner’s moving behaviour, while wolves and dogs living in packs do not. Hence, the degree of interspecies behavioural synchronisation may be influenced by the extent to which the dogs are immersed in everyday life with humans.

先前已有研究证实，犬类会与其主人同步行为。本研究旨在验证即时互动、犬品种以及驯化进程对行为同步的影响。行为同步测试在室外围栏中开展，测试流程分为两段各30秒的时段：其一为主人或训导员行走，其二为静止站立。本研究共开展三项实验以分别探究不同变量的影响：实验A聚焦即时互动的效应，实验B探究品种类群的影响，实验C则考察驯化进程的作用。在实验A中，研究者对20只不同品种的伴侣犬展开测试，实验前分别施以三种不同的人类互动处理方式：忽视、抚摸以及玩耍。结果显示，无论采用何种互动处理方式，犬类均会调整自身运动模式以匹配主人的动作。此外，探索行为、眼神接触以及运动状态均受主人运动模式的影响，且玩耍处理后犬类的探索行为有所减少。在实验B中，研究者在施以忽视处理后，对三组犬类开展同步测试：24只古老犬种、17只独居狩猎犬，以及20只伴侣犬（数据取自实验A）。无论所属组别为何，所有犬类均会将自身运动行为与主人同步。此外，人类的行走动作会正向影响犬类的眼神接触行为，同时降低其探索行为。在实验C中，研究者在施以忽视处理后，对6只社会化群居灰狼与6只同样经社会化训练的群居家犬展开测试。值得注意的是，这些动物并未因训导员的动作而改变自身运动模式。综上，与人类共同生活的伴侣犬会同步主人的运动行为，而群居灰狼与群居家犬则无此表现。由此可见，跨物种行为同步的程度或受犬类融入人类日常生活的深度所影响。