Adult wolves miss their handler when separated from them, just like dogs

Research has shown that highly connected adult wolves have developed individual social bonds with their handlers.

By: Ettoche Laurent University (ELTE), translation: Ziv Adaki 

According to a new study published by researchers from the Department of Ethology at Etosha Laurent University (ELTE), Budapest, in the journal Scientific Reports , highly connected adult wolves have developed individual social bonds with their handlers. 

One of the key qualities for the success of dogs is their attachment to their owners. However, the origins of the ability to create these individual-specific connections are still unclear. To find out where this ability grows from, we are required to investigate the behaviors attributed to attachments, but to understand their origins it is not enough to examine the behavior of dogs in depth.

Although it is agreed that the common ancestor of the dog and the gray wolf must have been a very social species, and this played an important role during the dog's domestication and emergence as a new species, we know nothing about the evolutionary origin of the dog-human bond. By examining the dog's closest living relative, the gray wolf, we can get a glimpse - albeit an indirect one - of how the social system of the common ancestor might have influenced the early process of dog domestication.

Is that the case in the dog house?

"Attachment is a behavioral complexity, which has several manifestations. For example, dogs seek to protect their owners in a threatening situation or are calmer when their owners are with them in new situations, but they show signs of stress in their absence. We wondered if highly attached adult wolves show at least some of the expressions that characterize attachment to their handlers," explains Rita Lenkei, lead author of the publication.

The researchers tested human-raised wolves and family dogs in a separation experiment, where the subject was left alone next to his handler or next to a stranger for three minutes in an unfamiliar place.

"It is surprising how little difference there was between the behavior of the dogs and the behavior of the wolves during the experiment. When their handler – or owner, in the case of the dogs – was present, they were more relaxed, examining and sniffing their surroundings. But, when the handler left, they became tense, howled and pulled on the leash towards the handler's hiding place. However, when the stranger disappeared, these behaviors were barely observed," explains Tamás Faragó, lead author of the study.

Of course, the researchers also found specific differences for each species, because beyond domestication, artificial selection and breeding conditions shape the dog's behavior significantly. For example, dogs expressed more interest in humans, regardless of the level of familiarity with them. This finding is consistent with previous findings, according to which dogs in general are more likely to bond with humans even when they are young puppies, the reasons for this may lie in genetic differences between dogs and wolves. In addition, wolves pulled on the leash more persistently, the researchers explained this on the assumption that the owners usually teach their dogs not to pull on the leash from a young age.

Wolves live in families

Although in various aspects dog-human relationships are similar to child-parent relationships, based on previous studies, wolf pups did not show attachment towards their handlers. Because in this experiment the subjects were adult wolves, and the handlers were not their original handlers, the results raise the possibility that the evolutionary origin of the human-dog attachment is in the social bond between pack members. Wolves live in families, which usually include their mates and offspring of different ages. It is likely that the common ancestor also lived in a similar social composition, which may provide a good basis for the development of abilities to easily integrate into human social groups.

"It is important to emphasize the fact that the tested wolves were raised by humans and underwent intensive socialization. Without this process, they would never behave this way towards people. Unlike wolves, as a result of the genetic changes, dogs can easily become attached to humans already when they are puppies and they can develop such an attachment at any stage of their life. Therefore, we must remember that even though during our experiment the wolves and dogs showed similar behavior, we are talking about different species; "Dogs are not just tamed wolves, and wolves will never become pets," Lenke adds.

for the scientific article

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