One thing I'm not following is how the side/order bias is being handled. OP measures a IMO very large bias towards left-hand treats, but it is unclear how that is handled (ahem)? Skimming https://github.com/adamwespiser/best-dog-treat/blame/main/an... doesn't help me understand if it is being modeled as a covariate to adjust for the bias or if it was dealt with by construction (eg. by always offering pairs twice, swapping hands), or what?
Incidentally OP if you want to make it more adaptive, you can just fit the B-T model each time, and grab a posterior sample of what the best pair is, and test that, which turns out to be Thompson sampling. I did this for fun with blind taste-testing of mineral waters: https://gwern.net/water
The initial set-up was to do 3 comparisons of the 5 treats (30 trials), alternate between right and left hand, then write a quick python script to randomize the order.
A bit more than halfway through the experiment, I ran the model and realized that A/D/E were the only contenders left, so I removed the B/C trials and added more A/D/E trials.
Yes, and also the presence of a window fan on that side is a big deal because the selection is based on scent. In my experience dogs appear to "like" a scent based on how strong it is, not necessarily how it is "flavored" (for examples, dogs can behave as if they love the smell of poop or skunk spray, but it's actually the powerful sensory information that they're reacting to, not a culinary desire). It seems possible to me that the dog is choosing whichever scent is more powerful.
My dog's favorite treat is the most expensive one. Or the one that causes the most intestinal (and therefore cleanup) issues. All it takes is a pause and some brief math to see that a lot of (good for your dog) dog treats are $16/lb. That's not even remotely the most expensive. It's cheaper to feed them straight meat. I've resorted to making my own treats. It's like $4/lb, plus you know exactly what goes into it (mostly ground turkey, yams, rice/chickpea flour).
Not OP but one thing you can do is boil or lightly-pan-fry (don't use any spices, or at least check that they're dog-safe, _do not_ use garlic) chicken thigh or chicken breast, cut it into small cubes and freeze it in sandwhich bags.
Dogs love it because it's just little meat cubes. Thaw it before you give them.
I love it. For years with my old dog I would give him a binary choice between two treats and intuitively got a sense of his favorites as well. More satisfying to me was giving him the choice, which (maybe I'm over personifying him) I think he liked to pick his favorite. He had stomach issues which limited him to really only a few types of treats, and it was obvious which were his favorites, but it was fun anyway. I miss that dog.
Author here: I did a quick experiment with my Greyhound, Bebop, to figure out the treat he prefers best using pair-wise comparison analyzed with the Bradley-Terry model. Same tech as Elo scores in chess, and several other places! Enjoy!
This makes me wonder what the research is for whether certain types or breeds of dog prefer certain dog treats, and how individual dogs might develop a preference for one kind over another. Based on this experiment it doesn't seem like the type of meat matters much, since while the top ranked treat is chicken, his second favourite seems to be the duck one.
It's pretty interesting, but Bebop is barely treat motivated, and mostly inside. Once you take him outside, especially in open areas, he becomes more interested in tracking movement and chasing things.
I believe it's explained by the job we've asked Greyhounds to do: see movement, get released, run after it. Once you let go, that's it, the dog needs to be motivated enough by the running animal or lure, and there's no chance to reinforce the loop once it starts!
We have 4 smaller dogs (mix of chihuahua and terriers), and they all absolutely love the greenies over anything else. One of them now has a prescribed treat and he definitely isn't happy about it, and the others won't touch it.
Hardest part is now feeding them all separate dishes at regular times every day.
My dog told me to write that the set of treats is missing non bleached rawhide, other dehydrated meats (eg rabbit, goat, fish), animal parts (eg ears), and vegetables. Also, he volunteers.
Add some interesting smells and dogs will eat absolutely anything.
Used tampons, literal shit, soiled underwear, dierhia, dead bird, freshly killed cat, they owners... It is basically a pig with collar that lives in your house.
I've seen many a lab eat their own shit, but my standard poodle takes his time investigating even a piece of steak before he decides whether it's worth eating.
Our Malinois really liked the dehydrated chicken too, currently finishing a bag of the Trader Joes organic chicken jerky sticks. Interesting idea for some experiments, thanks for sharing
The same time every day, around 11pm, I go to the kitchen, select two different treats, say the word “choice”, and present the treats in either hand, allowing Bebop to only take one... By the time the experiment started, Bebop was used to the routine and sniffing both treats before taking one.
Winner was Pur Luv Chicken, closely followed by MON2SUN duck + rawhide. Greenies and Pork Chomps fared poorly.
I can sell a dog anything.
It helps that I speak fluent dog and most of the dialects, except yap, and bark³ bark³ bark³ bark³ bark³.
It also helps that I truely love dogs and they love me, or at least are very attentive of and curious about, and possibly get completly wound up and loose there fluffy minds around, but I live with a horse.
Anyway, dogs and things they can, shall we say, interact with oraly, just to be safe, which includes tiny little unidentifiable things they very delicatly nibble with just there front teath, and entire car interiors and hotel rooms, reduced to a even mulch, some of which makes it all the way through there digestive track, these I bring up as they are spontainious choices, free from any possibility of testing bias.
But all in all, of my many observations, good meat tended carefully on a charcoal barbeque is paws down going to win 100/100, but they also like chicken poop, hoof trimmings, and afterbirth, which is a far from complete list.
Then, we can get into the things dogs luxurate in rolling themselves in if you realy want to make them happy.
If I repeat this experiment, I'll be a lot more careful about that, or also alternate which direction I'm standing in.
I didn't realize R/L preference was biased until I did the data analysis, and during the trials he was picking from both hands often enough that I perceived it as roughly 50% depending on the treats!