What does the White House hound think about, know, and feel?By Marc Bekoff
Bo is a Portuguese water dog. He resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D. C. (AKA the White House) with a group of four well-known humans who follow him around as he sniffs out his new home anointing it here and there. Given the enormous amount of press Bo has received you'd think he's an extraordinary being. He is, but not any more exceptional than other dogs and he surely shouldn't be treated better than his canine cousins who live elsewhere.
I've been studying dogs for many years and I'm constantly being asked what's happening in Bo's head and heart -- what does he think about, know, and feel? Bo spends a good deal of time resting and sleeping when he's not eating, playing, or sniffing about. He ponders what he's done, doing, and will do. Bo knows who his friends are, enjoys being with them, and misses them when they're not around. While Bo loves attention he also needs his down time and doesn't want a secretary to plan out his day -- he likes to make his own decisions and have them be honored. While Bo has a very active mind he doesn't really know he's the famous "first dog" or that his male human companion is President of the United States.
Much of what Bo needs to know comes in through his nose. It's his gateway to the world. Dogs gather much information from the symphony of odors left behind by others. When dogs snort, wiggling their noses while inhaling and exhaling, they're actually concentrating odors, pooling some into a mixture while expelling others.
Dogs spend lots of time with their well-endowed nostrils stubbornly vacuuming the ground or pinned blissfully to the hind end of other dogs. They have around 25 times the area of nasal olfactory epithelium (which contain receptor cells) and have many thousands more cells in the large olfactory region of their brain (mean area of 7000 mm2) than humans (mean area of 500 mm2). Dogs can differentiate dilutions of 1 part per billion, distinguish T-shirts worn by identical twins, follow odor trails, and are 10,000 times more sensitive than humans to certain odors. Like it or not, Bo's nose will go places ours won't.
Bo also knows what's fair and will let everyone know when he feels slighted. Even though he roams the White House it's unlikelyBo will have his fur done, nails painted, eyebrows plucked, or teeth cleaned regularly and he won't think this is unjust or uncouth. But he knows right from wrong. If Bo sees another dog receiving a better reward then he gets for doing something like shaking paws with any of the Obamas or their guests he knows it's not fair.
Research by Friedericke Range and her colleagues in Austria shows that dogs expect to be treated fairly, feel envy, and can get jealous. They demonstrate what's called "inequity aversion." Dogs who could see one another were asked to place their paws in an experimenter's hand and were rewarded with their favorite food when they did so. When both dogs weren't rewarded they continued placing their paws in the human's hand. However, if one dog didn't get food while the other did he or she essentially said "no way" and stopped doing what they were asked to do. Instead of shaking they scratched themselves, yawned, and avoided the gaze of the partner dog and the experimenter. Dogs, like other animals, are able to assess the value of a reward and refuse to work when other individuals receive something better for doing the same thing. Fair is fair.
Bo also expects that his buddies will play fair. My own studies of play show that animals work hard to maintain the rules of the game. When animals play they use actions such as vigorous biting, mounting, and body slamming that can be easily misinterpreted, so it's important to state clearly what they want and expect. Dogs carefully negotiate play and use specific signals and rules to fine-tune what they're doing so play doesn't escalate into fighting.
We can expect Bo to use four general rules for getting others to play and for continuing to play fair. These are: (1) Asking first: Dogs invite other dogs to play with a bow. Crouching on their forelimbs while keep their hind legs straight, sometimes barking, frequently exhibiting an eager expectant look on their face, their every move says, "Shall we play?"
(2) Being honest: Bows are honest signals and a sign of trust. Animals who violate the agreement to play find themselves on the outs. Cheating is very rare and play rarely escalates into fighting. Individuals who don't play fair find their play invitations are ignored.
(3) Minding manners: Dogs don't bite or slam into their play partner as hard as they can when they play. This restraint helps maintain the play mood because an intense bite or body slam is a play-stopper.
(4) Admitting you're wrong: Play can get out of hand but dogs control its intensity by using bows to say, "This is still play no matter what I'm going to do to you," or "Sorry I bit you so hard -- this is still play regardless of what I just did -- don't leave, I'll play fair." They're essentially apologizing for their misbehavior and for play to continue the other animal has to forgive the wrongdoing.
So, who is Bo? Bo is a happy and lucky dog. To say Bo is a dog isn't to say he's merely a dog. He's a highly sentient mammal knows a lot and experiences a wide range of emotions. He has likes and dislikes and once things settle down despite his lofty status we can only hope he's permitted to be a card-carrying canine who's allowed to pee on a wide variety of objects, sniff, lick, and perhaps consume yellow snow from which he gets information about who's been around, pass gas, eat grass and throw it up, sniff body areas of strange and familiar dogs, push his snout into forbidden places, and snatch socks and pinch food now and again. "Good dogs" do these things because they're dogs. They're not ill mannered.
Dogs enjoy doing things we can't or won't do and we must respect who they are. They're a great model for fairness, loyalty, trust, love, and having fun. We need to let dogs be dogs and not let their home address dictate who they are, who we think they are, or how they're treated. I'm sure Bo will appreciate the decorum and pomp of the White House even more if it doesn't compromise his existence as a dog doing doggy things.
