Genetics of Domesticated Behavior in Dogs and Foxes - Genetics and the Behavior of Domestic Animals - page 361

combined gaze and proximal point cues ( Hare et al., 2002 ). The number of
successful trials in this test was lower for the wolves than for the dogs ( Hare
et al., 2002 ).
Subsequent studies showed that wolf performance in the object-choice
test is strongly influenced by the level of wolf socialization with humans
( Mikl´si et al., 2003; Udell et al., 2008; Vir´nyi et al., 2008 ). Udell et al.
showed that highly socialized hand-reared wolves from a population bred in
captivity for many generations can successfully use distal point cues to make
a correct choice. In this particular test, the wolves tested outdoors in a famil-
iar area outperformed dogs tested outdoors in an unfamiliar area ( Udell
et al., 2008 ). A group in Hungary studied highly socialized hand-reared
wolves from a different population and demonstrated that these wolves had
the skills to identify the correct container using tapping cues and some of
these wolves were competent in reading proximal point cues ( G ´ csi et al.,
2009; Miklosi et al., 2003; Vir ´ nyi et al., 2008 ). Vir ´ nyi et al. have found
that wolves can reach a level of untrained dogs in following distal pointing
gestures after several months of formal training ( Vir ´ nyi et al., 2008 ).
Importantly, this study has also demonstrated a variation among the hand-
reared wolves in their ability to follow human cues, suggesting that the
variability in the wolves' communicative behavior might have provided the
raw material for selection during domestication ( Vir´nyi et al., 2008 ).
Several studies have shown that dogs are competent in the recognition of
human attention status ( Br¨uer et al., 2004; Call et al., 2003; Gacsi et al.,
2004 ). Dogs use the orientation of the body, the orientation of the head, and
the visibility of the eyes to distinguish between “attentive” and “inattentive”
humans ( Gacsi et al., 2004; Viranyi et al., 2004 ). Comparison of dog behav-
ior across several tests led to the conclusion that dogs can rely on the same
set of human facial cues that are used by humans to understand the attention
status of other humans ( Gacsi et al., 2004 ).
Dogs also look to humans for assistance and direction more than wolves.
When human-reared dogs and wolves trained to solve a simple manipulative
task were presented with an impossible version of the same test (e.g., open-
ing a locked box with food inside), dogs looked at the human almost imme-
diately and then directed their gaze between the human and the box, while
wolves did not look to the human but continued to attempt to solve the prob-
lem on their own ( Miklosi et al., 2003 ). The ability and desire of dogs to
look at a human's face is one of the key differences between dogs and
wolves in initializing and maintaining communicative interaction with
humans ( Miklosi et al., 2003 ).
Differences in the behavior of dogs and wolves in social interactions with
humans are recognized early in the postnatal period. The amount of interac-
tion required for socialization of a wolf is dramatically different from and
greater than the amount of interaction required for the socialization of a dog
( Coppinger and Coppinger, 2001 ). Successful socialization of wolf puppies