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Chemical Senses Advance Access originally published online on December 21, 2005
Chemical Senses 2006 31(3):207-212; doi:10.1093/chemse/bjj020
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Perinatal Olfactory Learning in the Domestic Dog

Peter G. Hepper and Deborah L. Wells

Canine Behaviour Centre, School of Psychology, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, United Kingdom

Correspondence to be sent to: Peter G. Hepper, Canine Behaviour Centre, School of Psychology, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, United Kingdom. e-mail: p.hepper{at}qub.ac.uk

The ability of individuals to learn about chemosensory stimuli in the prenatal, or immediate postnatal, period may be advantageous in acquiring information about "safe" foods after weaning. In this study, we examined the influence of perinatal exposure to aniseed via the mother's diet on a two-choice food test in the domestic dog. Pups were tested at 10 weeks of age following "prenatal" exposure to aniseed (the last 20 days of gestation), "postnatal" exposure to aniseed (the first 20 days after birth), "perinatal" exposure to aniseed (pre- and postnatal exposure combined), or no exposure to aniseed prenatally or postnatally (control). Perinatal exposure resulted in a significantly greater preference for the aniseed food than the other types of exposure. At 10 weeks, there was no evidence for the retention of any prenatal learning of the aniseed. It is suggested that exposure to a chemosensory stimulus across the perinatal period results in a greater effect than simply the sum of pre- and postnatal exposure due to priming of the chemosensory system via prenatal chemosensory experience. Such a system may confer survival advantages by promoting the acquisition of information about safe foods.

Key words: dietary preferences, dog, learning, odor, prenatal, suckling


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