For guide dogs, ‘tough love’ is best, even as puppies

Puppies with mothers who doted on them tended to fail out of a rigorous training programme to assist the blind. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP

When dog mums allowed their puppies to learn on their own in their first five weeks of life, without coddling them too much, their puppies grew up to be better guide dogs, according to a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Puppies with mothers who doted on them grew up to be anxious and more afraid of new situations, and tended to fail out of a rigorous training programme to assist the blind.
Researchers took video and closely observed 23 mothers and their 98 puppies for their first five weeks of life, at a facility that breeds and trains guide dogs in the US.

TOUGH LOVE

“We documented things like the mother’s nursing position, how much time she spent looking away from the puppies and how much time she spent in close proximity to her puppies or licking and grooming them,” said lead author Emily Bray.

After two years the researchers found that those with more attentive mothers were less likely to graduate and become guide dogs. A key measure of success was whether puppies’ mothers nursed them while standing, or lying down.

“If a mother is lying on her stomach, the puppies basically have free access to milk, but, if the mother is standing up, then the puppies have to work to get it,” said co-author Robert Seyfarth.

“A hypothesis might be that you have to provide your offspring with minor obstacles that they can overcome for them to succeed later in life because, as we know, life as an adult involves obstacles.”

Parallels could certainly be drawn to human behaviour, as experts warn that “helicopter parenting” can be detrimental to kids’ well-being, while fostering independence and grit in the face of adversity have lifelong benefits.

Researchers are continuing to study how a mother’s anxiety might be passed on to her puppies. Are the overcoddled puppies picking up on their mother’s anxiety? Or are they inheriting genes that make them more fearful?