[Experimental study of olfactory and visual modalities in the communication system between child and pet dog]

Different experimental methods are set up to specify the importance of the olfactory cues in the interaction systems between the young child and his pet dog. A realistic child dummy, with an affiliative or an agonistic posture, is wearing clothes of a child who is known or unknown from the animals. The study is dealt in kennels (N(o) of dogs observed: 68) and allows to define and quantify the behaviours of the dogs in response to different combinations of visual and olfactory informations. These behaviours allow to discuss the socio-cognitive abilities of the dogs and their relational strategies determined by the integration of several functional cues.