Are dogs superstitious?

[Jeff Corey]

One of my dogs barks whenever there is thunder or fireworks nearby. She even barks at lightning which precedes thunder.
That part is easy to grasp based on Pavlovian principles. After many pairings with lightning preceding thunder, she has formed a CS ->US association.
But I wonder if she barks until the thunder stops, forming a superstition based on negative reinforcement. The thunder is going to stop eventually, and that is correlated with her barking.
Sort of akin to doing a rain dance until it rains.
The other bozo just tries to get as close to either of us as possible and pants and drools.

 

[CFLarsen]

But I wonder if she barks until the thunder stops, forming a superstition based on negative reinforcement.

Take her to the pet psychic and find out?

You'll have to time her barkings (and who says those are the only manifestations of her magical beliefs?) with the actual thunder and lightning, to see if she is acting in a corresponding manner, before you can say anything concrete about her behaviour.

Of course, you run a very high risk of her merely reacting to your reactions: Instead of responding to the thunder, she responds to you noticing the thunder...

(Why am I telling you this? )

 

[Walter Wayne]

But I wonder if she barks until the thunder stops, forming a superstition based on negative reinforcement. The thunder is going to stop eventually, and that is correlated with her barking.

Some horses do math, some dogs can calculate how far away lightning is. Each bark represents k meters type thing. Maybe you try marketing this "math" dog and see if you can perplex as many people as Wilhelm von Osten and his horse.

Walt

 

[Hand Bent Spoon]

I doubt dogs have the required intelligence to create superstitions for themselves. In the western world, we tend to anthropomorphize dogs way too much.

Dog hears lightning, dog feels threatened, threatened dogs bark. Nothing else to it.

 

[Meffy]

I can tell you for sure they don't believe in astrology. What dogs do when they meet a "sign" is simply disgraceful.

 

[RSLancastr]

I've noticed that most dogs are upset when a black cat crosses their path.

 

[Jeff Corey]

I doubt dogs have the required intelligence to create superstitions for themselves. In the western world, we tend to anthropomorphize dogs way too much.

Dog hears lightning, dog feels threatened, threatened dogs bark. Nothing else to it.

I was using "superstition" in the sense that Skinner did in his famous 1948 paper "'Superstition' in the pigeon".
Pigeons given noncontingent reinforcement developed ideosycratic , repetitive behaviors that had nothing to do with the delivery of the reinforcement.
Another point, the dog barks when she sees the lightning that precedes the thunder, not just when she hears the thunder.
And she is not counting anything. It's merely a case of Pavlovian conditioning.