Hypothesis: Dog will prove to be a good running partner.
Experimental procedure: Walk approximately .25 miles from house to park where dog likes to relieve herself, pausing along the way for dog to investigate interesting smells and mark territory. After arriving at the park and dog has relieved herself, begin intervals of jogging and walking for approximately 2 miles, returning to park at end of to allow dog to sniff for any smells she may have missed the first time. Repeat procedure over several days so that dog (and human) becomes accustomed to jogging, gradually increasing the distance of jogging intervals and decreasing the walking intervals, as well as the overall distance traveled.
Results
Summary: After several trials, the hypothesis has been proven wrong.
Details: This experiment has been carried out on several days, most frequently during the morning, when dog and human are well rested, and when the weather is not excessively hot or humid. The dog will seldom run on the leash, except for in limited specific circumstances, detailed below. The dog prefers to walk and trot. While the human carrying out the procedure is walking, the dog is happy to walk and trot alongside, except when she detects interesting scents, when she requires both parties to stop while she investigates thoroughly and occasionally scent marks. When the human attempts to jog, the dog will attempt to maintain her trotting pace, trailing behind the human at a distance of approximately 8 feet (the length of a 6 foot leash plus human’s arm). Despite efforts to cajole and reward dog, she will seldom run.
The only times the dog will run are when she detects the presence of another animal, specifically a rabbit, cat, or squirrel. She will at that time rapidly increase her speed to sprint toward said animal, even if this is not the direction the human wishes to travel. At this time, she is much faster than the speed of human, and she will continue to pull against her collar and leash to the point of choking herself, if possible. During these periods, the dog runs at a distance of 8 feet ahead of the human (again, length of 6 foot leash plus human arm). The human has occasionally taken advantage of this and tried to run with the dog to accustom the dog to running on the leash, however the slower speed of the human has not enabled the dog to catch said animal, and once the animal has gone into cover, the dog will stop running. Not only is this stressful for the human, but it actually results in a lower overall speed and distance traveled, because the dog then needs to spend considerable time thoroughly sniffing the area and retracing the animal’s path. Suggested follow-up experiment: After the human has been able to increase her speed and endurance, attempt running with dog at a greyhound racing track.
The dog will also display interest in running when other—faster—humans jog or run past the pair engaged in the experiment. Human suspects that the dog is attempting to make its human running partner appear to be capable of running faster than her current capacity. Another possibility is that the dog wants to appear “cool”. Suggested follow up experiment: Practice the procedure with the cooperation of one of the local cross-country teams. Possible drawbacks: Cross-country team runners may be distracted by dog’s cuteness and stop to pet her, and/or they may be distracted by human’s lack of athletic prowess and collapse in laughter. Either possibility will make the experiment difficult to carry out. Additional avenue of research: read through literature on canine behavior to determine if dogs have been known to be responsive to “peer pressure.” Perhaps it is possible to find another human-canine pair with which to partner in repeating this experiment.
