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Paws for Progress: The development and evaluation of the first prison based dog training programme in the UK
| Contributor(s):: Rebecca Jean Leonardi
The most common type of human animal interaction (HAI) programme used in prisons involves prisoners caring for and training unwanted dogs from rescue shelters, to prepare the dogs for rehoming. Such programmes have been previously developed specifically aimed towards male young offenders, and...
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Cats and owners interact more with each other after a longer duration of separation
| Contributor(s):: Matilda Eriksson, Linda J. Keeling, Therese Rehn
Little is known about the cat’s (Felis silvestris catus) need for human contact, although it is generally believed that cats are more independent pets than e.g. dogs. In this study, we investigated the effect of time left alone at home on cat behaviour (e.g. social and distress-related)...
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The Problem with Treating a Dog Like a Pet | Kim Brophey | TEDxUNCAsheville
| Contributor(s):: Kim Brophey
Applied Ethologist and Dog Behavior Specialist, Kim Brophey, analyzes the issues with the pet industry and outlines a new dog training program that values a relationship based on mutual understandings rather than one based on dominance and control. Kim Brophey, CDBC, is an applied ethologist...
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Evaluating the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) to Assess the Bond between Dogs and Humans
| Contributor(s):: Therese Rehn, Ragen T. S. McGowan, Linda J. Keeling
The Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) is increasingly being used to study attachment between dogs and humans. It has been developed from the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure, which is used extensively to investigate attachment between children and their parents. In this experiment, 12...
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Brain regions involved in observing and trying to interpret dog behaviour
| Contributor(s):: Charlotte Desmet, Alko van der Wiel, Marcel Brass
Humans and dogs have interacted for millennia. As a result, humans (and especially dog owners) sometimes try to interpret dog behaviour. While there is extensive research on the brain regions that are involved in mentalizing about other peoples’ behaviour, surprisingly little is known of...
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The existence of parenting styles in the owner-dog relationship
| Contributor(s):: Ineke R. van Herwijnen, Joanne A. M. van der Borg, Marc Naguib, Bonne Beerda
Parents interact with children following specific styles, known to influence child development. These styles represent variations in the dimensions of demandingness and responsiveness, resulting in authoritarian, authoritative, permissive or uninvolved parenting. Given the similarities in the...
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Use of behavioural and physiological responses for scoring sound sensitivity in dogs
| Contributor(s):: Carla Caroline Franzini de Souza, Daniel Penteado Martins Dias, Raquel Nascimento de Souza, Magda Alves de Medeiros
Sound sensitive dogs have exaggerated responses to sound stimuli that can negatively impact the welfare of the dog. Behavioural reactions combined with the response to sound involve a marked autonomic imbalance towards sympathetic predominance and release of cortisol. The purpose of the present...
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Solidarity with Animals: Assessing a Relevant Dimension of Social Identification with Animals
| Contributor(s):: Catherine E. Amiot, Brock Bastian
Interactions with animals are pervasive in human life, a fact that is reflected in the burgeoning field of human-animal relations research. The goal of the current research was to examine the psychology of our social connection with other animals, by specifically developing a measure of...
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Context and Individual Characteristics Modulate the Association between Oxytocin Receptor Gene Polymorphism and Social Behavior in Border Collies
| Contributor(s):: Borbála Turcsán, Friederike Range, Zsolt Rónai, Dóra Koller, Zsófia Virányi
Recent studies suggest that the relationship between endogenous oxytocin and social affiliative behavior can be critically moderated by contextual and individual factors in humans. While oxytocin has been shown to influence human-directed affiliative behaviors in dogs, no study investigated yet...
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Oxytocin and Cortisol Levels in Dog Owners and Their Dogs Are Associated with Behavioral Patterns: An Exploratory Study
| Contributor(s):: Maria Petersson, Kerstin Uvnäs-Moberg, Anne Nilsson, Lise-Lotte Gustafson, Eva Hydbring-Sandberg, Linda Handlin
We have previously shown that dog–owner interaction results in increasing oxytocin levels in owners and dogs, decreasing cortisol levels in owners but increasing cortisol levels in dogs. The present study aimed to further investigate whether oxytocin and cortisol levels in the previously...
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Oxytocin Receptor Gene Polymorphisms Are Associated with Human Directed Social Behavior in Dogs (Canis familiaris)
| Contributor(s):: Anna Kis, Melinda Bence, Gabriella Lakatos, Enikõ Pergel, Borbála Turcsán, Jolanda Pluijmakers, Judit Vas, Zsuzsanna Elek, Ildikó Brúder, Levente Földi, Mária Sasvári-Székely, Adám Miklósi, Zsolt Rónai, Enikõ Kubinyi
The oxytocin system has a crucial role in human sociality; several results prove that polymorphisms of the oxytocin receptor gene are related to complex social behaviors in humans. Dogs' parallel evolution with humans and their adaptation to the human environment has made them a useful...
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Cortisol and Secretory Immunoglobulin A Response to Stress in German Shepherd Dogs
| Contributor(s):: Ivona Svobodová, Helena Chaloupková, Roman Koncel, Luděk Bartoš, Lenka Hradecká, Lukáš Jebavý
The aim of the study was to determine whether cortisol and secretory Immunoglobulin A (sIgA) could be used as an indicator of acute stress in both young and adult dogs. Seventeen German shepherd puppies were exposed to the Puppy test (challenge test) at the age of seven weeks. This test has...
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Training Reduces Stress in Human-Socialised Wolves to the Same Degree as in Dogs
| Contributor(s):: Angélica da Silva Vasconcellos, Zsófia Virányi, Friederike Range, César Ades, Jördis Kristin Scheidegger, Erich Möstl, Kurt Kotrschal
The welfare of animals in captivity is of considerable societal concern. A major source of stress, especially for wild animals, is the lack of control over their environment, which includes not being able to avoid contact with human beings. Paradoxically, some studies have shown that...
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An Owner-Independent Investigation of Diabetes Alert Dog Performance
| Contributor(s):: Clara Wilson, Steve Morant, Sarah Kane, Claire Pesterfield, Claire Guest, Nicola J. Rooney
Objective: To quantify Diabetes Alert Dog (DAD) performance by using owner-independent measures. Research Design and Methods: Eight owners of accredited DADs used a FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring System (FGMS). Concurrent Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) footage was...
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Online videos indicate human and dog behaviour preceding dog bites and the context in which bites occur
| Contributor(s):: Sara C. Owczarczak-Garstecka, Francine Watkins, Rob Christley, Carri Westgarth
YouTube videos of dog bites present an unexplored opportunity to observe dog bites directly. We recorded the context of bites, bite severity, victim and dog characteristics for 143 videos and for 56 videos we coded human and dog behaviour before the bite. Perceived bite severity was derived...
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Parent perceptions of the quality of life of pet dogs living with neuro-typically developing and neuro-atypically developing children: An exploratory study
| Contributor(s):: Sophie S. Hall, Hannah F. Wright, Daniel S. Mills
There is growing scientific and societal recognition of the role that pet dogs can play in healthy development of children; both those who are neuro-typically developing and those who live with a neuro-developmental disorder, such as autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. However,...
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Canine separation anxiety: strategies for treatment and management
| Contributor(s):: RJ Sargisson
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Evaluation of a behavioral assessment tool for dogs relinquished to shelters
| Contributor(s):: DL Duffy, KA Kruger, James A. Serpell
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No better than flipping a coin: Reconsidering canine behavior evaluations in animal shelters
| Contributor(s):: Gary J. Patronek, Janis Bradley
Use of behavior evaluations for shelter dogs has progressed despite their lack of scientific validation as reliable diagnostic tools. Yet results of these evaluations are often used to make life-and-death decisions. Despite acknowledging the significant limitations of evaluations, most authors...
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Prevalence of owner-reported behaviours in dogs separated from the litter at two different ages
| Contributor(s):: L. Pierantoni, M. Albertini, F. Pirrone
