Researchers Seeking Pedigree Labrador Retrievers

Do you want to take part in exciting new dog research?

We are currently conducting a number of projects at the University of Lincoln, aimed at identifying personality traits/behavioural tendencies in the domestic dog. In particular, we are interested in impulsivity, and are conducting a commonly used behavioural task at the University of Lincoln to assess this.

We are looking to recruit pedigree Labrador Retrievers, from both working and show lines, to take part in this research and hope some of you may be interested in getting involved!

The task involves one visit to the University and will take approximately 2 hours. During the visit, dogs are trained to understand that one tray contains a small quantity of cheese and another different coloured tray contains a larger quantity of cheese. Dogs then undergo a choice task, where both trays are presented at the same time, and the dog is free to choose which tray they go to. If they select the tray with the larger quantity of food, this tray moves slightly further away each time, whereas the small quantity tray always stays in the same place, and the procedure is repeated. The task ends when a dog consistently selects the smaller quantity tray in favour of the larger quantity tray.

The task is entirely non-invasive, and uses cheese as food rewards. Testing is arranged around owners schedules. Breaks are provided and dogs have free access to water throughout. Owners will also be asked to complete some short questionnaires.

In order to take part, interested owners will need to:

1) Sign up to the University of Lincoln Pets Can Do database (https://www.lincolnpetscando.co.uk/). A database of owners and their dogs who may want to take part in various studies being conducted at the University. FAQs can be found on the website.

2) Once signed up, owners will be contacted with further information regarding the study, and asked whether they would like to express an interest in taking part.

3) If interest is expressed, they will be contacted by the lead researcher to arrange a date and time for them to visit the University.

(If they remain on the database, they may be contacted to see if they would like to take part in any other studies in the future, but are free to opt out of the database at any point.)

For more information, please feel free to contact Tom Rowland: 14585252@students.lincoln.ac.uk.

We look forward to hearing from you!