Through patterns of behaviour observed before repetitious food deliveries a family dog has deduced its owner becomes instantly hungry whenever the doorbell rings.
Over a period of two months faithful dog Rusty paid careful attention to his owner, Malcolm Bradwell’s behaviour. The six-year old Border Collie observed that whenever Malcolm ordered food from his phone, Rusty would be taken for a fifteen minute walk, then five minutes after returning the doorbell would ring and his master would get very excited and saliva would dribble from his mouth.
Rusty explained: “After intense study between sleeping and licking my balls I observed six distinct stages to my owner’s actions:
Stage 1: The process started with Malcolm looking in the cupboards and fridge, often three of four times, always without reward. Mood: grumpy.
Stage 2: He’d spend fifteen minutes scrolling various food options on his phone before settling on one of three default options. Mood: expectant.
Stage 3: Malcolm would next set a timer on his phone and call me for a walk. I always had the lead on my mouth ready. Mood: distracted.
Stage 4: My owner would return from our walk and feed me. He would then prepare his sitting area in front of the TV. The cushions would be plumped and a glass of brown frothy water be poured carefully into a special glass. Mood: pensive.
Stage 5: After compulsive timer checking the doorbell would ring and Malcolm would leap to his feet in a manner seldom seen during any other domestic scenario. Mood: giddy.
Stage 6: Almost instantly Malcolm would produce copious amounts of saliva. He would lick his lips and wipe his mouth with his arm, covered or not, before answering the door.
“It was interesting to note that when I asked Patch the terrier from down the road to knock on arbitrarily, Malcolm would initially be disoriented, but still salivated. Fascinating.
“I concluded that my owner’s conditioned. responses were formed by repetitive associative stimulus and reward, and shared my results with the canine community through a series of barking and growling exchanges in the park.
“My owner’s behaviour continues to be a source of intrigue to me, so my next research project is to discover why the opening of his laptop makes him pull his pants down.”