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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Assessment of Social Transmission of Food Preferences Behaviors
Published on: January 25, 2018
Dogs acquire food preferences from interacting with recently fed conspecifics
Gwen Lupfer-Johnson1, Julie Ross
1Department of Psychology, University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, AK 99508-4614, USA. afgjl@uaa.alaska.edu
Abstract:
Social transmission of food preferences has been documented in many species including humans, rodents, and birds. In the current experiment, 12 pairs of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) were utilized. Within each pair, one dog (the demonstrator) was fed dry dog food flavored with either basil or thyme. The second dog (the observer) interacted with one demonstrator for 10 min before being given an equal amount of both flavored foods. Observers exhibited a significant preference for the flavored diet consumed by their demonstrators, indicating that dogs, like rats, prefer foods smelled on a conspecific's breath.
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