Play to Win or for Fun?
What would you do if you won the lottery? Inherited a fortune or acquired a ton of money that didn’t involve robbing a bank?
A recent research study wanted to see if dogs would choose a “lottery” over working, so to speak. The results indicated that most dogs, given the choice of working for food or given food freely, more often will choose free food, making them seem like slackers!
I didn’t find the results of the dog study surprising. Hey if I won the lottery or could work my butt off to get the same amount of money, I’m going to choose lottery, and I’m guessing that many of us would too. However, it’s not just about the significant amount of money that comes with winning, but also, the excitement from gambling, even if we only win a few dollars randomly, because it is the possibility of getting the jackpot that keeps us playing!
Neuroscientist, Jaak Panksepp identified the SEEKING circuit that initiates and maintains searching behavior; in fact, it’s how humans survived. While the alarm system in our brain told us of danger, the SEEKING circuit told us to look for food and other resources.
In the dog study, they used a snuffle mat with hidden kibble and a tray of kibble. The dog, placed 6’ from the two feeders, was released and then the observer noted whether the dog approached the tray with food first, approached the snuffle mat first, never approached the snuffle mat, or approached the tray and then approached the snuffle mat. Only one dog in the study approached the snuffle mat first and ignored the free food in the tray.
There have been similar studies on wild animals which showed them working complex problems, even when there was plenty of food available.
But today’s dog is not wild! Thousands of years removed from a wolf, dogs rely on humans to meet their needs which is the need for companionship, physical exercise, mental exercise, veterinary care, protection from the elements, and species-appropriate nutrition. The problem is not recognizing that the very traits that we selected dogs for such as livestock protection, herders, sled pullers, are not the jobs that most pet dogs are doing these days, leaving a void where there once was a fulfilling job to do.
I’m guessing that the results would have been different if say, free food was compared to an activity that tapped into that particular dog’s SEEKING circuit, for example scent work, Treibball, Lure Coursing, or a challenging brain game.
There is no challenge in getting things for free. Yes, it satisfying to eat when you’re hungry or being on the receiving end of a boatload of money, for sure, however, the very thing that keeps us inventing, exploring, making bucket-lists and even gambling, is the excitement of the game!
And now I will digress…
When I was in the first grade, one of my friends convinced me that her parents were chipmunks and she invited me to her house after school to meet them. You cannot imagine my excitement, not only meeting her rodent parents, but also getting to visit the hole in the ground where they lived.
Well, as fate would have it, I sliced my chin open on the monkey bars during recess which resulted in a trip to the ER, and that meant no after school visit with my friend, Bucktoothed Betty and her chipmunk parents.
We and our wonderful companion dogs, need some kind of fulfillment in our lives that goes beyond just the basics. It’s the fun of playing the lottery even if we never win or, for that matter, meet the elusive the chipmunk parents!
HAPPY TRAINING & ENRICHMENT
© Fran Berry CPDT-KA, UW-AAB all rights reserved 2025
