Food preferences of dogs housed in testing-kennels and in consumers' homes: some comparisons.

This work assessed the extent to which the food preferences of dogs housed in testing-kennels are representative of those reported for dogs housed in consumers' homes. Experiment 1 compared two-pan preference data from kennel-dogs and home-dogs fed canned, semi-moist, or dry food products. Kennel- and home-dogs performed similarly on the canned-products test, but differed significantly on the semi-moist and dry products tests. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the discrepancies between kennel- and home-dogs were likely due to differences in feeding history prior to the test. Experiment 3 showed that the effects of prefeeding with a single food are relatively short-lived in kennel-dogs, lasting for only a few days. In home-dogs preferences were more stable.