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[–] 3 points 5 months ago (5 children)

We've bred out satiation out of some dogs, meaning that they are constantly hungry, making it very easy to get them to do what you want by offering food in return.

Cruel stuff when you think about it

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  • [–] 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 child)

    Just did a brief search to see if I can find anything about breeding satiation out of dogs. I couldn't find anything but I found stuff like this.

    But just my own internal thoughts:

    Dogs had a long history into domestication with humans. It seemed like they knew if they stood by or had a partnership (I.e. helping with hunting) that they would get rewarded with food, shelter, etc. I'm not sure if bred out of satiation but I do believe dogs that were easier to domesticate had higher survival rates and like any animals, just are food motivated for survival too. They evolved with these tendencies

    Edit: Also only one of my two dogs liked eating the same kibble every day. My current dog loves kibble but we got him out from a hoarding situation and he had food insecurity issues and behaviors for a while. He now knows that he will always be fed now but apparently he absolutely loves his kibble and would eat it over other foods (over wet dog food, PetFresh rolls, etc).

    My other one was a Schnauzer mix and wasnt interested in any kibble as much.

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago

    Often dogs are food motivated because they didn’t get enough to eat as a pup. It’s similar to humans in that regard. If you feed a dog from weaning with a full dish that they can eat from whenever they want then they end up much less food motivated because they know the food doesn’t just disappear.

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