Important meal for dogs as well as humans

A new study conducted at the University of Kentucky has suggested that eating breakfast improves search accuracy in dogs.

The search performance of trained dogs was tested both after eating breakfast and going without, and those dogs who had eaten were found to search more accurately than those who were hungry.

The study, led by Dr Holly Miller and Charlotte Bender, involved showing trained dogs a treat which was then hidden in one of six containers. Dogs who had eaten 30 minutes earlier navigated to the treat more accurately than those who had not eaten for 12 hours, leading Dr Miller to conclude: "The key finding here is rather simple: breakfast can aid performance by dogs."

The same, however, is not necessarily true for wild canines - the closely-related wolves, coyotes and jackals. As these animals rely on a natural diet with low carbohydrate levels, the body relies on the secondary fuel source of ketone bodies, instead of glucose.

Dr Miller explained that wild dogs surviving on hunted meal "are probably in a state of ketosis where energy for neural processes does not fluctuate much." This in turn could mean that meals may not have as big an effect on problem-solving in wild canines as in domestic dogs, but it may cause wolves and coyotes to be less impulsive and more cautious.

Dr Miller added: "When hungry they [wild dogs] become less able to control their behaviour and this might be why, when hungry, they are so much more dangerous and unpredictable."

The study was recently published in the journal Behavioural Processes.