Reply To: Your newest survey & DNA intentions

[kathryn lord]

Hi car2ner,

Thank you for your interest. We are not going to be looking directly at the amounts or types of socialization during the critical period in this particular study. Instead we are confirming the timing of the critical period of socialization in different breeds of dogs and wolves and trying to understand how these differences are controlled. This variation in timing changes how different breeds of dogs and wolves experience the same environment, during this very sensitive developmental period, and consequently, for the rest of their lives. For example, regardless of early environment, the shorter the critical period is the less time there is for the dog to encounter new things and the more likely they are to show fear of novelty as adults. The longer the critical period the more likely they are to experience more things and be less fearful of novelty as adults.