叛逆的青春期狗狗
一項新的研究發(fā)現，狗狗也不能幸免于青春期憂郁:狗狗在經歷青春期時也會像最好的朋友——人類一樣表現出來。
In a study published Wednesday in the journal Biology Letters, scientists from the UK’s University of Nottingham and Newcastle University present evidence that pups act out similarly to human teens when they are going through puberty. In the breeds researchers analyzed — Labradors, golden retrievers and crossbreeds of the two — these teen years generally occur when the canines are between six and nine months old.
英國諾丁漢大學和紐卡斯爾大學的科學家，在周三發(fā)表在《生物學快報》雜志上的一項研究中提出了證據，證明幼犬在青春期的行為與人類青少年相似。在研究人員分析的品種中——拉布拉多犬、金毛獵犬和這兩種狗的雜交后代——證明青春期通常發(fā)生在狗狗6到9個月大的時候。
While in their pubescent months, researchers found that dogs were more likely to ignore commands from their caregivers — but not strangers — and were overall harder to train. Dogs who felt insecure about their relationship to their owner, authors found, exacerbated the behavior. In pups, this is characterized by increased anxiety and attention-seeking when separated from an owner. Insecure female dogs had an increased likelihood of reaching puberty earlier, the authors found.
研究人員發(fā)現，在它們青春期的幾個月里，狗更容易忽視主人的指令，但不太可能忽視陌生人的指令，而且總體上更難訓練。作者發(fā)現，那些對自己與主人的關系感到不安的狗，這種行為更加嚴重。在幼犬中，當與主人分開時，其特征是焦慮和注意力尋求增加。研究人員發(fā)現，缺乏安全感的母狗進入青春期的可能性更大。
“This is a very important time in a dog’s life,” explains lead author Dr. Lucy Asher in a press release.
“這是狗狗一生中非常重要的時刻。”首席作者露西·阿舍博士在新聞稿中解釋道。
Owners should keep doggy puberty in mind before putting a pup in its adolescence up for adoption or going through the adoption process, the study adds.
該研究補充道，主人在將幼犬送人收養(yǎng)或通過收養(yǎng)程序之前，應將幼犬的青春期牢記于心。
“This is when dogs are often re-homed because they are no longer a cute little puppy and suddenly, their owners find they are more challenging and they can no longer control them or train them,” adds Asher. “But as with human teenage children, owners need to be aware that their dog is going through a phase and it will pass.”
阿舍博士補充道:“這段時間，狗狗們會像變了一樣，它們不再是可愛的小狗了。突然之間，主人們發(fā)現它們變得更具挑戰(zhàn)性，再也無法控制或訓練它們了。”“但就像人類的青少年兒童一樣，主人需要意識到他們的狗正在經歷一個階段，一切都會過去的。”
The authors acknowledge that their research, while groundbreaking, is considered common knowledge by some.
兩位作者承認，他們的研究雖然具有開創(chuàng)性，但也被一些人視為常識。
“Many dog owners and professionals have long known or suspected that dog behavior can become more difficult when they go through puberty,” says co-author Dr. Naomi Harvey. “But until now there has been no empirical record of this. Our results show that the behavior changes seen in dogs closely parallel that of parent-child relationships, as dog-owner conflict is specific to the dog’s primary caregiver and just as with human teenagers, this is a passing phase.”
研究報告的撰寫者之一納奧米·哈維博士說:“很多養(yǎng)狗者和專業(yè)人士早就知道或懷疑，當他們進入青春期后，狗的行為會變得更加難以控制。”但到目前為止，還沒有這方面的經驗記錄。我們的研究結果表明，狗狗的行為變化與親子關系密切相關，因為狗主人的沖突只針對狗狗的主要看護者，就像人類青少年一樣，這只是一個過渡階段。”
And yelling at your pooch won’t make it pass faster, studies show, it just will ruin their fluffy lives.
研究表明，對你的狗狗大喊大叫不會讓它跑得更快，只會毀掉它們毛茸茸的生活。
“It’s very important that owners don’t punish their dogs for disobedience or start to pull away from them emotionally at this time,” says Asher. “This would be likely to make any problem behavior worse, as it does in human teens.”
阿舍博士說：“非常重要的一點是，主人不要因此而懲罰它們，也不要在這個時候在情感上遠離它們。這樣做可能會使問題變得更糟，就像人類青少年那樣。”
