Procedure

This experiment is a case study conducted in two settings.

Field setting #1: The first experiment (series1) was conducted outside the home environment and the subject was released outside the front door of the house. Each trial began with the experimenter opening the front door and letting the dog out to the yard area. This area is not fenced allowing the dogs return time to vary depending on how far away the dog was.

Precisely two minutes later, the experimenter called "COME" (s1) and then blew the whistle (s2). It was recorded with the stop watch how many seconds it took for the dog to return home.

The dog was immediately provided with a reward or food treat when he returned home to the experimenter. On trial six, the experimenter stopped using the stimulus one (s1) "COME" and only used the stimulus two (s2), the high pitched dog whistle. The reward procedure continued in the same way as described above.

Observations of the dogs’ appearance and behavior were recorded for each trial.

Trials of this procedure in field setting #1 were repeated at random times indicated by the dog asking to go outside. Ten trials were conducted over four consecutive days. Using this procedure variables such as this directions of other dogs and people were not controlled in this setting of series 1.

Field setting #2: Field setting series 2 was conducted in the dog’s home environment inside the home. This house is a bungalow style with three levels. Only two of those levels of the home were used at any time during the experiment so as to keep the task simple and not confuse the dog. Also, the house has an open plan, with open kitchen, living room and dining room.

Each trial began with the experimenter’s helper holding or distracting the dog while the experimenter moved to another room of the house. The experimenter then blew the whistle (S2) and recorded the dog’s response time.

A reward or food treat was given immediately to the dog once he located the experimenter. Observations were recorded. Ten trials were conducted in field setting #2 over two consecutive days.

An uncontrolled variable in this home setting was the presence of interior walls and rooms that could have confused the dog as to where the sound was coming from.

The type of food treat and the pitch of the whistle were kept consistent throughout the experiments.