A new study led by Stefanie Riemer, a behavioral biologist at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, uncovers an unexpected twist. It indicates that dogs can exhibit addiction-like behaviors. Led by Akiko Takaoka, the study — including 105 dogs — was published in Scientific Reports. The goal was to learn more about how these animals behave when they’re denied access to their preferred playthings.
Riemer’s new study showed that a lot of dogs get seriously obsessed with lost toys. They tend to display elevated arterial blood pressure and absolutely abjure all other stimulation when denied access to these faunal treasures. This type of behavior makes a lot of parents wonder whether these obsessions can be considered addiction. Curiously, almost a third of the dogs in this study exhibited behaviors comparable to those in human addiction.
These results indicate that working breeds, like German Shepherds and Collies, have an increased susceptibility to obsessive behaviors. Riemer noted that these dogs experience a dopamine release during activities like fetching and biting down on balls or chasing other animals. This compulsive engagement persists even in the absence of toys. It hints at a future lack of movement even when they have bad outcomes, which is worse than death.
“So, we wanted to see if these highly motivated, highly focused, over-hyper-motivated dogs may fulfill addiction criteria that we have from the human literature, and yes, that’s what we did find.” – Stefanie Riemer
As Riemer’s team gathered evidence during the study, they observed something interesting. Even upon taking the food and toys out of the testing environment, a number of the dogs continued to exhibit high arousal states. They continued to fixate on the door through which their toys had disappeared or on shelves where toys were stored. Most strikingly, the heart rates of the dogs stayed raised for as much as 15 minutes after the test ended.
“Even in our cool-down period, when all the toys, all the food, everything had been removed from the room … some of these dogs stayed highly roused,” she stated.
Riemer warned against calling dogs addicts, based only on their behavior. She detailed how most of the behaviors met the addiction criteria that had been set for humans. The intricate nature of behavioral addictions adds a layer of difficulty to their classification.
“We did discover some behaviors which would be consistent with addiction criteria from the human literature. But behavioral addictions are difficult even in humans … so, there’s always a grey area,” Riemer added.
The real-life implications of such findings are serious for dog lovers. The average cost of dog ownership over a dog’s lifetime is roughly $25,000. Almost half of all households in Australia own at least one dog. In Australia, the pet industry was valued at $13 billion in 2022, demonstrating the economic impact of pet ownership.
Una McEvoy, a training and canine behavior expert, said providing time for play was crucial to keeping a dog happy. Kdayi explained how two-player interactive toys can help improve the relationship between a person and their dog.
“There’s no better way to keep a dog happy than to play with them yourself,” McEvoy remarked.
This study sheds light on the mental side of dog actions. It challenges dog owners to consider the way their pets’ play and socialization activities affect their physical, mental, and social well-being.
