ArticleScientific reports2023
Body size awareness matters when dogs decide whether to detour an obstacle or opt for a shortcut.
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 8 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- The modal-modular model of animal self-representation: a comparative and operational framework.Frontiers in psychology · 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
- Body Size Awareness and Modular Self-Representation in Reedfish (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Body Awareness Does Not Need a Pedigree: Mixed-Breed Dogs Rely More on Self-Representation Than Social Learning in a Spatial Task.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- A multidimensional approach to the self in non-human animals through the Pattern Theory of Self.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Wistar Male Rats (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Cats are (almost) liquid!-Cats selectively rely on body size awareness when negotiating short openings.iScience · 2024Article
- Cleaner fish with mirror self-recognition capacity precisely realize their body size based on their mental image.Scientific reports · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Body-awareness is one of the fundamental modules of self-representation. We investigated how body-awareness could contribute to dogs' decision making in a novel spatial problem where multiple solutions are possible. Family dogs (N = 68) had to obtain a treat from behind a transparent fence. They had two options: either detour around the fence (7 m), or take a shortcut through a doorway (2 m). We had three conditions: small door open, large door open, and doors closed. Our results indicated that dogs assess the size of the doorway, and if they find it too small, they decide to detour instead, while in the case of the open large door, they rather opted for the shortcut without hesitation. Shorter headed dogs tended to choose open doors more often, while longer headed dogs rather chose detours, probably because of their better peripheral vision. While body size awareness did not manifest differently in dogs with short or long heads, we showed for the first time a connection between head shape and physical cognition in dogs. We showed that dogs rely on their body-awareness in a naturalistic setting where multiple solutions exist simultaneously. Dogs make decisions without lengthy trial-and-error learning and choose between options based on their body-awareness.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.