The ideal free distribution accounts for free-operant domesticated dog foraging

The Ideal Free Distribution suggests the relative allocation of the number of organisms foraging across two or more resource sites will match the relative density of reinforcement patches in those resource sites. This initial project sought to develop a new method of foraging research for dogs by using a commercially available treat dispenser in basic behavioral research. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Ideal Free Distribution equation could describe the behavior of the domesticated dog in a daycare setting. Toward this end, we recorded dog behavior in a free operant arrangement on various variable-time schedules of reinforcement. Results indicated matching occurred in the dog sample, which corresponded with the Ideal Free Distribution equation, with a slight visual appearance toward undermatching, consistent with extant literature on group foraging. Furthermore, there was a lack of bias in the current sample of foraging dogs. Implications and future directions involve extending foraging research in the domesticated dog. That the study occurred in a local dog daycare specifically highlights how practical concerns in animal welfare and/or training can be addressed in rigorous ways with strong conceptual foundations in the experimental analysis of behavior.