ArticleScientific reports2023
The difference between two brachycephalic and one mesocephalic dog breeds' problem-solving performance suggests evidence for paedomorphism in behaviour.
Article in Scientific reports, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- 'Teleonomes in Tatters': The Welfare Costs of Selecting Dogs for Extreme Phenotypes, and the Case for Change.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Showing Behaviour in One Hundred and One Dogs: Gazing, Breed and Cephalic Index.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Attention and improvement: social learning reveals two behavioural dimensions behind dog-human interactions.Evolutionary human sciences · 2026Article
- Spatial Problem-Solving in Working Dogs: The Combined Effect of Body-Size Awareness, Social Learning and Functional Breed Selection.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Selection for Short-Nose and Small Size Creates a Behavioural Trade-Off in Dogs.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Similarities and differences between dog-human and human-human relationships.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Dogs' Gazing Behavior to Humans Is Related to Their Liveliness, Aggressiveness, and the Emotional Comfort They Provide.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Behavioural differences and similarities between dog breeds: proposing an ecologically valid approach for canine behavioural research.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- Functional significance and welfare implications of chewing in dogs (Frontiers in veterinary science · 2025Review
- Dog-Owner Relationship and Its Association with Social Cognition in French Bulldogs.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Age-related effects on a hierarchical structure of canine cognition.GeroScience · 2024Article
- Article
- Cooperative but Dependent-Functional Breed Selection in Dogs Influences Human-Directed Gazing in a Difficult Object-Manipulation Task.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Despite serious health and longevity problems, small brachycephalic breeds are becoming increasingly popular among pet owners. Motivations for choosing short-nosed breeds have been extensively investigated in recent years; however, this issue has been addressed mainly by relying on owner reports, resulting in explanations of "cute looks", referring to the baby-schema phenomenon and "behaviour well suited for companionship". We aimed to compare the behaviour of two brachycephalic (English and French bulldogs) and one mesocephalic (Mudi) breed in a problem-solving context. The dogs were given the task of opening boxes containing food rewards. We investigated human-directed behaviour elements over success and latency (indicators of motivation and ability). We found that both English and French bulldogs were significantly less successful in solving the problem than mudis. Both brachycephalic breeds had longer opening latencies than the mesocephalic breed. Brachycephalic breeds oriented less at the problem box and more at humans present. In summary, the short-headed breeds were less successful but oriented much more toward humans than mesocephalic dogs. Owners might interpret these behaviours as "helplessness" and dependence. The results support the hypothesis that infant-like traits may be present not only in appearance but also in behaviour in brachycephalic breeds, eliciting caring behaviour in owners.
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