Training level and personality affect border collies’ olfactory performance in the Natural Detection Task

To be able to generalise findings to dogs as a species, many studies use a mixed sample, but applying a single breed sample enables the investigation of several influencing factors without the confounding effect of breed. Here, to reveal the effect of some intrinsic and extrinsic factors on olfactory performance, we investigated the effects of age, personality traits (Activity/Excitability and Responsiveness to training), inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, training level, and owner’s rewarding style testing 101 border collies’ performance in the Natural Detection Task. We analysed the dataset of 89 individuals that passed the baseline criteria, while searching for hidden food as a reward at increasing difficulty levels. We found that senior dogs were less successful than late puppies, which is in line with previous findings, where older dogs performed worse than young adults. Some level of training positively affected performance, similar to other studies; even dogs with basic obedience performed better than those with no training, but dogs with advanced or special olfactory training were not superior. Dogs with higher Responsiveness-to-training scores and lower Activity/Excitability scores were more successful. Inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity scores and the owner’s general rewarding style did not affect the performance. By focusing on a single breed, instead of a large pool of dogs, we could better identify the influencing effects of different training levels and some personality traits on the olfactory performance than in a mixed sample. Our study highlights the importance of how experience gained in any task situation, as well as certain personality traits, can improve a dog's olfactory performance.