Do Working Dogs Really Want to Work?

White Poodle, a Working Service Dog, Laying on the Floor

Humans and dogs have been cooperating to achieve mutually beneficial goals for about 30,000 years. During that time, dogs have had many jobs: hunter-tracker, protector, sled-puller and assistance-provider, to name a few. They are truly hard-working companions, and we benefit greatly from their efforts. But do we know how the dogs themselves feel about their work? Are they happy to have fulfilling tasks to do, or do they experience their work as drudgery and exploitation, burdens they bear merely so they can have food and shelter?

How Dogs Feel about Their Work

Dogs perform the jobs that humans train them and require them to do under an implicit deal: the dog accepts training and executes the tasks learned, and the human provides rewards in the form of food, shelter, approval and affection. Decades of study by industrial psychologists has shown that people prefer to perform interesting and engaging work, from which they derive intrinsic satisfaction (and, of course, to be paid fairly). Indeed, when work is fulfilling and provides a sense of achievement, financial reward fades away as a motivator, as long as it is considered fair. Conversely, being underpaid demotivates people. Again, people seek a balanced deal, with the important caveat that work can and should be intrinsically rewarding, not just remunerative. But do dogs feel anything analogous to intrinsic satisfaction?

A Black and White Mobility Service Dog Laying on the Grass

In one elaborate experiment, a group of beagles was given the opportunity to solve a problem (manipulating a food-provision device) to receive one of three rewards: food, time with their human trainer and time with other dogs. The food reward was most highly valued. The researchers found that having the opportunity to solve a problem and to control access to a reward, increased tail-wagging, a reliable indicator of positive emotion. The dogs enjoyed what the experimenters called the “Eureka moment” when they made the connection between their actions and a reward.

The scientists concluded:

The experimental animals in our study were excited not only by the expectation of a reward but about realizing that they themselves could control their access to the reward. These results support the idea that opportunities to solve problems, make decisions, and exercise cognitive skills are important to an animal’s emotional experience and ultimately, its welfare. (Source: McGowan, R. et al, “Positive affect and learning: exploring the ‘Eureka Effect’ in dogs,” Anim Cogn, 2014 May;17(3):577-87) 

What about Other Animals?

Dogs and humans aren’t the only animals that appear to derive psychological benefits from their achievements. As with homo sapiens, animals like to feel they have earned their living. Scientists have discovered, for example, that:

• Cattle that master a specific task and receive a food reward show more signs of excitement than animals who receive the same reward without learning the relationship between task and reward.

• Rats prefer to obtain food by pressing a bar mechanism even when free food is available.

  (Source: Singh, D., “Preference for bar pressing to obtain reward over freeloading in rats and children” Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 73 (2), 320-327)

• In another experiment with rats, the subject animals perceived a sucrose reward to be more palatable when they were required to make more effort (press a food-supply device more times) than in lower-effort conditions. The researchers said, “These results suggest that, like humans, rats place more value on things they work hardest for.”

  (Source: Lydall, E.S., et al, “Rats place greater value on rewards produced by high effort: An animal analogue of the ‘effort justification’ effect,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 46, Issue 6, November 2010)

Across a range of such analyses, sentient animals (parrots as well as mammals, for example) consistently showed a preference for earning their rewards. There is one notable exception: domestic cats. Freeloaders. Shocking.

How We Should Work with Our Dogs

Smiling Service Dog

It was considered a major breakthrough when industrial psychologists demonstrated that people want to work for more than just money and that intrinsic satisfaction dominates financial compensation as a motivator. The research noted above suggests that our canine partners share some of these traits. So, some guidelines for working with our canine partners:

• Make their work (and their lives) as interesting as possible;

• Give them chances to solve problems; and

• Tie their rewards to cognitive as well as physical achievement.

Human lives are richer when we feel a sense of accomplishment. Why should it be any different for our dogs?

All Images Courtesy of MobilityDog.org.