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Ponies Proliferate Positive Affect: The Effectiveness of Equine Therapy on Positive Affect in Adolescents with Serious Emotional Disturbances
| Contributor(s):: Hannah Roberts, Nikki Honzel
Adolescents with serious emotional disturbances (SED) are a particularly difficult population to treat due to high comorbidity rates of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and behavioral conduct disorders. The current study compared the effectiveness of equine-facilitated psychotherapy...
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Serum Cortisol Concentrations and Behavior Assessment as Tools for Evaluating Stress in Horses Used in Therapeutic or University Riding Programs
| Contributor(s):: Shikun Chen
Stress is known to have a negative impact on the health and well-being of animals. Physiological and behavioral changes offer objective and easy to use methods of evaluating stress in horses. However, there are limited studies showing a relationship between changes in stress-related behavior...
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Equine assisted learning with special populations
| Contributor(s):: Hanna Baus
This paper explores the use of equine-assisted learning (EAL) activities with special populations and includes a program evaluation for two equine-assisted learning programs developed and conducted by HeartStrides, a non-profit organization in the Pacific Northwest. The study included two...
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Equine Facilitated Mental Health Services and Social Adjustment in Adolescents on Probation
| Contributor(s):: Anna Idzerda
Little quantitative research has been done to verify claims that the use of horses in Equine Facilitated Mental Health and Education Services has an impact on the clients’ emotional and mental wellbeing. This study was created to determine if participation in six months of weekly...
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Potential Risk Factors for Aggression and Playfulness in Cats: Examination of a Pooling Fallacy Using Fe-BARQ as an Example
| Contributor(s):: Noema Gajdoš Kmecová, Barbara Petková, Jana Kottferová, Rachel Sarah Wannell, Daniel Simon Mills
Using a popular method of behaviour evaluation which rates the intensity of behaviour in different contexts, we demonstrate how pooling item scores relating to a given construct can reveal different potential risk factors for the dependent variable depending on how the total score is...
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Alternative Therapies for People with Special Needs: An Emphasis on Animal-Assisted Therapies
| Contributor(s):: Emily Hamilton
This paper contains research examining the effectiveness of alternative therapies - play therapy, art therapy, music therapy, horticulture therapy, and animal-assisted therapies – in helping various special needs populations. The focus of this research was on animal-assisted therapies...
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Dogs and blood pressure in non-dog owners
| Contributor(s):: Natasha Adamson
Several studies have shown that the presence of a dog can reduce blood pressure during a stressful situation. A study done in 2001 demonstrated that for blood pressure to be reduced during a stressor the subjects must be dog owners. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if four, one...
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Short Communication: Open Access Ectoparasitic infestations of cats and dogs in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria: brief communication for 'One Health' approach to control of potential zoonoses
| Contributor(s):: M.O. Elom, N.N. Obeji, A. Nworie, V. Usanga
Background: Cats and dogs are important companion animals that paradoxically pose risks of zoonotic infections to their owners. This study determined the ectoparasitic infestations of cats and dogs in a semi-rural setting of Ebonyi State, so as to establish the prevalence of the ectoparasites...
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Novel Diagnostic Tools for Identifying Cognitive Impairment in Dogs: Behavior, Biomarkers, and Pathology
| Contributor(s):: Zuzana Vikartovska, Jana Farbakova, Tomas Smolek, Jozef Hanes, Norbert Zilka, Lubica Hornakova, Filip Humenik, Marcela Maloveska, Nikola Hudakova, Dasa Cizkova
Canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CCDS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder in senior dogs that is mainly associated with decreased ability to learn and respond to stimuli. It is commonly under-diagnosed because behavioral changes are often attributed to the natural process of...
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Equine Therapy From A Dance/Movement Therapy Perspective
| Contributor(s):: Cecilia Clasen
Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP) is a form of therapy that utilizes a team approach of a psychotherapist, an equine specialist and a horse or horses, all working together to aid individuals in experiencing personal emotional healing and growth. It can be particularly effective when there...
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Evaluating Cognitive and Behavioral Outcomes in Conjunction with the Secure Base Effect for Dogs in Shelter and Foster Environments
| Contributor(s):: Lauren E. Thielke, Monique A. R. Udell
Although it is widely accepted that dogs and humans form attachment relationships, characterizing attachment styles in dogs has only recently received attention in the literature. Previous research has shown that pet dogs display patterns of behavior in an attachment test that can be classified...
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The effect of videotapes of animals on cardiovascular responses to stress
| Contributor(s):: Deborah L. Wells
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Anxiety-Reducing Effect: Dog, Fish and Plant in Direct Comparison
| Contributor(s):: David Buttelmann, Anne-Kristin Römpke
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Population Characteristics of Cats Adopted from an Urban Cat Shelter and the Influence of Physical Traits and Reason for Surrender on Length of Stay
| Contributor(s):: Hannah Miller, Michael Ward, Julia A. Beatty
Measures aimed at reducing the length of stay (LOS) of cats in shelters can promote animal welfare and more efficient use of resources. The extent to which variables shown to impact LOS are broadly applicable is unclear. The aim of this study was to describe a population of cats adopted from an...
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Human Preferences for Conformation Attributes and Head-And-Neck Positions in Horses
| Contributor(s):: Georgina L. Caspar, Navneet K. Dhand, Paul D. McGreevy
Human preferences for certain morphological attributes among domestic animals may be entirely individual or, more generally, may reflect evolutionary pressures that favor certain conformation. Artificial selection for attributes, such as short heads and crested necks of horses, may have...
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Prospective Evaluation of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Performed in Dogs and Cats According to the RECOVER Guidelines. Part 2: Patient Outcomes and CPR Practice Since Guideline Implementation
| Contributor(s):: Sabrina N. Hoehne, Kate Hopper, Steven E. Epstein
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) outcomes have not been prospectively described since implementation of the Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation (RECOVER) guidelines. This study aimed to prospectively describe CPR outcomes and document arrest variables in dogs and cats at a U.S....
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Characteristics and Adoption Success of Shelter Dogs Assessed as Resource Guarders
| Contributor(s):: Betty McGuire
Some domestic dogs aggressively guard resources. Canine resource guarding impacts public health through dog bites and a ects dog welfare through adoption and euthanasia policies at animal shelters. However, little is known about the demographic characteristics and adoption success of dogs...
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Prospective Evaluation of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Performed in Dogs and Cats According to the RECOVER Guidelines. Part 1: Prognostic Factors According to Utstein-Style Reporting
| Contributor(s):: Sabrina N. Hoehne, Steven E. Epstein, Kate Hopper
Factors associated with positive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) outcomes defined according to the veterinary Utstein-style CPR reporting guidelines have not been described since implementation of the Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation (RECOVER) CPR clinical guidelines in...
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Back to the Future: A Glance Over Wolf Social Behavior to Understand Dog–Human Relationship
| Contributor(s):: Giada Cordoni, Elisabetta Palagi
This review focuses on wolf sociobiology to delineate the traits of cooperative baggage driven by natural selection (wolf-wolf cooperation) and better understand the changes obtained by artificial selection (dog-human cooperation). We selected some behaviors of the dog’s...
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Parental Perception of Changes in Basic Life Needs of Children with Disabilities after Six Months of Therapeutic Horseback Riding: A Qualitative Study
| Contributor(s):: Robert Lovrić, Nikolina Farčić, Štefica Mikšić, Aleksandra Gvozdanović Debeljak
Therapeutic horseback riding (THR) has a positive effect on the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial functioning of children with disabilities. Parents’ reports of the effects of THR on their children support professionals in individualizing the THR program. With this qualitative study,...
