Anxious dogs can improve their memory by chewing on toys, study suggests

Giving anxious dogs a chew toy can help improve their memory, a study suggests.

US researchers evaluated the performance of 34 Labrador retrievers on a working memory task, in which they had to remember which bucket the reward had been placed in over a short period of time.

The dogs were given a chew toy to chew for five minutes immediately before the task, and the frequency of bites was recorded by a computer program.

Before the experiment, trainers who had worked with the dogs for at least a month completed a Dog Behavior Research and Evaluation Questionnaire to rate each dog on its level of “fearlessness.”

“In high-fear dogs, repeated chewing when the chew toy was made accessible was associated with better spatial working memory, while the opposite was true for low-fear dogs,” the researchers from Auburn University in Alabama found.

It is thought that in fearful dogs, chewing may serve to reduce physiological arousal, helping them focus, while in more relaxed dogs, chewing may serve as a distraction.

Dogs were given a chew toy to chew for five minutes immediately before the task, and bite frequency was recorded by a computer program (stock image)

It is thought that chewing may reduce physiological arousal in fearful dogs, helping them focus (stock image)

“What may be happening is that fearful dogs gain more of a therapeutic effect from chewing than non-fearful dogs,” said Dr Deborah Wells, lecturer in animal behavior and welfare at Queen’s University Belfast, who was not involved in the study. – Chewing the previous group may help reduce cortisol and stress levels.

“In less fearful animals, chewing may serve as a distraction, with less effect in reducing arousal.”

The study found that for long-term memory, chewing may help anxious and non-anxious dogs alike.

The researchers evaluated this by giving the dogs a maze task on a different day than the bucket task.

“We found that dogs that chewed more intensely took fewer trials to relearn the maze when they were tested shortly after,” said the researchers, whose findings were published in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Science.

“Regarding why both groups showed improved memory after intense chewing, it is less clear,” Dr. Wells said.

“Although the human literature suggests sustained attention is enhanced through chewing gum – gum facilitates alertness and improves cognitive performance.”