Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

so i am doing a science fair project about paw preference in dogs (i am using the one on science buddies) and one of my tests isn't working. it is the one were you put a treat in a plastic tube and the dogs try and get it out with their paw. i did it with my 2 dogs and they can't figure it out. so what do i do? do i need a new test? or are my dogs just really dumb (no offense to my dogs, but they are not the sharpest tools in the shed.)?
so if someone could help me with that it would be great.

Hey!
I think that a good idea would be to scout for other dogs that you could use in your experiment. Ask your friends and neighbors if it is okay with them that you test out their dog's paw preferences! If you click on the PBS episode on the ScienceBuddies Guide, you'll find that some pets just won't cooperate, which might be what is happening with your dogs:

The first cat, Nudge, was definitely not into our tests. He wouldn't do anything, so we took Nudge out of the investigation. The next cat, Little Debbie, used her left paw on the tube and toy tests, but used both paws equally for the peanut butter test. Overall, she seemed more left-pawed. Cle-cle used both paws equally. Brooklyn was right-pawed on almost all of the tests. So we learned that individual cats seem to have a paw preference, but we can't say yet whether most cats have the same preference or not. For our next question we want to see if the cat's age determines which paw it prefers to use. We're going to try to find more cats to study.

Finding other dogs for your experiment sounds like the way to go, best of luck!!

Hi puppylover,

I did a science fair experiment with my dogs when I was in middle school, and one of my three dogs could not figure out my experiment either!

You've already gotten some good advice: increasing your sample size is a great place to start.

Another thing you can do is try to alter the test slightly. Maybe the plastic tube doesn't work well for your dogs, but another container might work. You could try a treat toy that is meant to dispense treats, or some other type of container.

Let us know if you have more questions!

Heather