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Finding the best dog treat with statistics

wespiser.com

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Re: Finding the best dog treat with statistics

#51

Post by RataNova »

nosioptar wrote: post #46
gwern wrote: post #21

One thing I'm not following is how the side/order bias is being handled. OP measures a IMO very large bias towards left-hand treats, but it is unclear how that is handled (ahem)? Skimming https://github.com/adamwespiser/best-dog-treat/blame/main/an... doesn't help me understand if it is being modeled as a covariate to adjust for the bias or if it was dealt with by construction (eg. by always offering pairs twice, swa…

Some dogs have a strong preference on right/left. I've known at least six dogs that will only shake hands with their left paw.

Yep, I have seen dogs that clearly have "a side" for certain habits, even if it is not obvious whether it is paw preference, training, comfort...

Re: Finding the best dog treat with statistics

#53

Post by RataNova »

CM30 wrote: post #7

This makes me wonder what the research is for whether certain types or breeds of dog prefer certain dog treats, and how individual dogs might develop a preference for one kind over another. Based on this experiment it doesn't seem like the type of meat matters much, since while the top ranked treat is chicken, his second favourite seems to be the duck one.

I'd guess texture and(or) smell might matter as much as the actual meat

Re: Finding the best dog treat with statistics

#54

Post by rkagerer »

The same time every day, around 11pm, I go to the kitchen, select two different treats, say the word “choice”, and present the treats in either hand, allowing Bebop to only take one... By the time the experiment started, Bebop was used to the routine and sniffing both treats before taking one.

Winner was Pur Luv Chicken, closely followed by MON2SUN duck + rawhide. Greenies and Pork Chomps fared poorly.

Re: Finding the best dog treat with statistics

#55

Post by andrew_eu »

I love it. For years with my old dog I would give him a binary choice between two treats and intuitively got a sense of his favorites as well. More satisfying to me was giving him the choice, which (maybe I'm over personifying him) I think he liked to pick his favorite. He had stomach issues which limited him to really only a few types of treats, and it was obvious which were his favorites, but it was fun anyway. I miss that dog.

Re: Finding the best dog treat with statistics

#57

Post by wespiser_2018 »

kokanee wrote: post #48
nosioptar wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some dogs have a strong preference on right/left. I've known at least six dogs that will only shake hands with their left paw.

Yes, and also the presence of a window fan on that side is a big deal because the selection is based on scent. In my experience dogs appear to "like" a scent based on how strong it is, not necessarily how it is "flavored" (for examples, dogs can behave as if they love the smell of poop or skunk spray, but it's actually the powerful sensory information that they're reacting to, not a culinary desire). It seems possibl…

If I repeat this experiment, I'll be a lot more careful about that, or also alternate which direction I'm standing in.

I didn't realize R/L preference was biased until I did the data analysis, and during the trials he was picking from both hands often enough that I perceived it as roughly 50% depending on the treats!

Re: Finding the best dog treat with statistics

#58

Post by wespiser_2018 »

CM30 wrote: post #7

This makes me wonder what the research is for whether certain types or breeds of dog prefer certain dog treats, and how individual dogs might develop a preference for one kind over another. Based on this experiment it doesn't seem like the type of meat matters much, since while the top ranked treat is chicken, his second favourite seems to be the duck one.

It's pretty interesting, but Bebop is barely treat motivated, and mostly inside. Once you take him outside, especially in open areas, he becomes more interested in tracking movement and chasing things.

I believe it's explained by the job we've asked Greyhounds to do: see movement, get released, run after it. Once you let go, that's it, the dog needs to be motivated enough by the running animal or lure, and there's no chance to reinforce the loop once it starts!

Re: Finding the best dog treat with statistics

#60

Post by metalman »

I can sell a dog anything. It helps that I speak fluent dog and most of the dialects, except yap, and bark³ bark³ bark³ bark³ bark³. It also helps that I truely love dogs and they love me, or at least are very attentive of and curious about, and possibly get completly wound up and loose there fluffy minds around, but I live with a horse. Anyway, dogs and things they can, shall we say, interact with oraly, just to be safe, which includes tiny little unidentifiable things they very delicatly nibble with just there front teath, and entire car interiors and hotel rooms, reduced to a even mulch, some of which makes it all the way through there digestive track, these I bring up as they are spontainious choices, free from any possibility of testing bias. But all in all, of my many observations, good meat tended carefully on a charcoal barbeque is paws down going to win 100/100, but they also like chicken poop, hoof trimmings, and afterbirth, which is a far from complete list. Then, we can get into the things dogs luxurate in rolling themselves in if you realy want to make them happy.
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