{"id":131917,"date":"2023-10-09T22:15:56","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T22:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/?p=131917"},"modified":"2023-10-09T22:15:56","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T22:15:56","slug":"anxious-dogs-can-improve-memory-by-chewing-on-toys-study-suggests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/lifestyle\/anxious-dogs-can-improve-memory-by-chewing-on-toys-study-suggests\/","title":{"rendered":"Anxious dogs can improve memory by chewing on toys, study suggests"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span>Anxious dogs can improve their memory by chewing on toys, study suggests<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>It is thought in fearful dogs, chewing may act to reduce physiological arousal<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Giving anxious dogs a toy to chew on can help improve their memory, a study suggests.<\/p>\n<p>US researchers assessed 34 Labrador retrievers&#8217; performance on a working memory task, in which they had to remember which bucket a treat had been placed in over a short period of time.<\/p>\n<p>The dogs were given a chew toy to bite for five minutes immediately before the task, and the frequency of bites was recorded by a computer program.<\/p>\n<p>Before the experiment, trainers who had worked with the dogs for at least a month completed the Canine Behavioural Assessment and Research Questionnaire to rate each dog on its level of &#8216;fearfulness&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers from Auburn University in Alabama found: &#8216;In dogs with high fearfulness, more frequent chewing when given access to a chew toy was associated with better spatial working memory, while the opposite was true for dogs with low fearfulness.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s thought that in the fearful dogs, chewing may act to reduce physiological arousal, helping them to focus, while in more relaxed dogs, chewing may create a distraction.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/09\/22\/76355149-0-image-a-105_1696887053380.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The dogs were given a chew toy to bite for five minutes immediately before the task, and the frequency of bites was recorded by a computer program (Stock Image)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/09\/22\/76355187-0-image-a-106_1696887180859.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s thought that in the fearful dogs, chewing may act to reduce physiological arousal, helping them to focus\u00a0(Stock Image)<\/p>\n<p>Dr Deborah Wells, reader in animal behaviour and welfare at Queen&#8217;s University Belfast, who was not involved in the study, said: &#8216;What may be happening is that the fearful dogs are gaining a more therapeutic effect from the chewing than the non-fearful dogs &#8211; with chewing in the former group perhaps helping to reduce cortisol levels and stress.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;In the less fearful animals, the chewing may simply be serving as a distractor, with less of an arousal-reducing effect.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The study found that, for longer-term memory, however, chewing may help anxious and non-anxious dogs alike.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers assessed this by giving the dogs a maze task on a different day to the bucket task.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We found that dogs that chewed at a greater intensity took fewer trials to relearn a maze when tested shortly after,&#8217; said the researchers, whose findings are published in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Wells said: &#8216;With regards to why both groups show improvements in memory following more intense chewing is less clear.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Although the human literature points to enhancement of sustained attention from chewing gum &#8211; with gum facilitating alertness and better cognitive performance.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sciencetech\/article-12612413\/Anxious-dogs-improve-memory-chewing-toys-study-suggests.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anxious dogs can improve their memory by chewing on toys, study suggests It is thought in fearful dogs, chewing may&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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