Excessive dog barking is among the leading sources of noise pollution world-wide; however, the reasons for the annoyance of barking to people remained uninvestigated. Our questions were: is the annoyance rating affected by the acoustic parameters of barks; does the attributed inner state of the dog and the nuisance caused by its barks correlate; does the gender and country of origin affect the subjects’ sensitivity to barking. Participants from Hungary (N = 100) and Brazil (N = 60) were tested with (...) sets of 27 artificial bark sequences. Subjects rated each bark according to the inner state of the dog and the annoyance caused by the particular bark. Subjects from both countries found high-pitched barks the most annoying: however, harsh, fast-pulsing, low-pitched barks were also unpleasant. Men found high-pitched barks more annoying than the women did. Annoyance ratings showed positive correlation with assumed negative inner states of the dog, positive emotional ratings showed negative correlation with the annoyance level. This is the first indication that acoustic features that were selected for effective vocal signalling may be annoying for human listeners. Among the explanations for this effect the role of affective communication and similar bioacoustics of particular animal vocalizations and baby cries are discussed. (shrink)

In a questionnaire study we surveyed the owners of 113 companion dogs. Owners had to mark on a four-grade scale how long their dog remembered particular memory items (persons, other animals, events, objects). Additionally we collected descriptive data on the demographical characteristics of the dog and the keeping conditions.A principal component analysis on the memory items resulted in five components. From these, two were connected to people (`Family' and `Intruders'), three other components contained individual items of memory of objects and (...) events (`Going out', Playing' and `Doing something'). Analyses of variance revealed that the dog-owner relationship, the keeping conditions, age and breed of the dog affect the dogs' memory as described by the owner. The amount of time spent together or the education of the owner had no or minimal effect on these components.Our study showed that owners form stable opinions about their dogs' episodic memory capacity. Nevertheless, the results can be biased by such factors that affect either the owners' opinions about their dog-companions, or the dogs' access to particular stimuli, which can modify the formation of memory traces. In the future, these results can serve as a starting point for empirical testing of family dogs' memory. Keywords: dogs; dog owners; memory; questionnaire. (shrink)

In a questionnaire study we surveyed the owners of 113 companion dogs. Owners had to mark on a four-grade scale how long their dog remembered particular memory items. Additionally we collected descriptive data on the demographical characteristics of the dog and the keeping conditions.A principal component analysis on the memory items resulted in five components. From these, two were connected to people, three other components contained individual items of memory of objects and events. Analyses of variance revealed that the dog-owner (...) relationship, the keeping conditions, age and breed of the dog affect the dogs’ memory as described by the owner. The amount of time spent together or the education of the owner had no or minimal effect on these components.Our study showed that owners form stable opinions about their dogs’ episodic memory capacity. Nevertheless, the results can be biased by such factors that affect either the owners’ opinions about their dog-companions, or the dogs’ access to particular stimuli, which can modify the formation of memory traces. In the future, these results can serve as a starting point for empirical testing of family dogs’ memory. Keywords: dogs; dog owners; memory; questionnaire. (shrink)

In a questionnaire study we surveyed the owners of 113 companion dogs. Owners had to mark on a four-grade scale how long their dog remembered particular memory items. Additionally we collected descriptive data on the demographical characteristics of the dog and the keeping conditions.A principal component analysis on the memory items resulted in five components. From these, two were connected to people, three other components contained individual items of memory of objects and events. Analyses of variance revealed that the dog-owner (...) relationship, the keeping conditions, age and breed of the dog affect the dogs’ memory as described by the owner. The amount of time spent together or the education of the owner had no or minimal effect on these components.Our study showed that owners form stable opinions about their dogs’ episodic memory capacity. Nevertheless, the results can be biased by such factors that affect either the owners’ opinions about their dog-companions, or the dogs’ access to particular stimuli, which can modify the formation of memory traces. In the future, these results can serve as a starting point for empirical testing of family dogs’ memory. Keywords: dogs; dog owners; memory; questionnaire. (shrink)