The Importance of the Secure Base Effect for Domestic Dogs – Evidence from a Manipulative Problem-Solving Task

Abstract

Our study is the first to provide evidence for an owner-specific secure base effect in dogs that extends from attachment tests to other areas of dogs' lives and also manifests itself in cognitive testing - thereby confirming the remarkable similarity between the secure base effect in dogs and in human children. These results also have important implications for behavioral testing in dogs, because the presence or absence of the owner during a test situation might substantially influence dogs' motivation and therefore the outcome of the test.