Stress assessment in rescue dogs during routine training sessions

Shelter and working dogs we used the Kruskal-Wallis test. Dogs with the 3a allele are significantly more aggressive (c2 5 6.18; P 5 0.04), are more aggressive against an unknown person (c2 5 8.766; P 5 0.012), have problems moving on hard, smooth surfaces (e.g., slippery surface, plastic canvas, etc.) and bark more often than the others (Z 5 22,32, P 5 0.02). Dogs with at least one 3a allele are more excitable than homozygotes with two 2 alleles. These findings are in good agreement with recent studies. We found that dogs with the 3a allele seem to be better for police dog training because their behavioral traits fit the job’s function better. Key words: German shepherd; dopamine; gene; efficiency

83 displacement activities (mean 5 0.40; range 5 0–1.48 times/ min). Looking back at the owner was shown an average of 0.29 times/min (range 5 0–2.23 times/min), elimination and average of 0.18 times/min (range 5 0–0.81 times/min), and licking lips, yawning and body shake an average of 0.08 times/min (range 5 0–2.58 times/min). This study is one of the first attempts to quantify stress signs in rescue dogs during routine training sessions. We hope that this will be an initial step toward developing a scientific method for stress detection in rescue dogs. Key words: rescue dogs; stress signals; fecal cortisol 66

65 STRESS ASSESSMENT IN RESCUE DOGS DURING ROUTINE TRAINING SESSIONS Elena Bellaio1,*, Simona Normando2, Gabriele Bono2 1 Libero Professionista, Italy 2 Dipartimento di Scienze Sperimentali Veterinarie, Padua University, Padua, Italy *Corresponding author: [email protected] Although the importance of rescue dogs in saving people all around the world has been recognized widely, few studies have focused on the stress they may experience during their work and its effects. We set out to measure the frequency of behavioral patterns that could be representative of stress or frustration (i.e., ‘‘stress signs’’ such as licking lips, yawning, eliminative behavior, displacement activities, looking to the owner for help) shown by rescue dogs during routine training sessions. These values can then be used to compare stress signs shown by dogs during training and possibly work sessions to obtain clues about the level of stress the dog is experiencing. Another aim was to investigate whether there was a difference among 3 different tasks (i.e., single person hidden under wreckage, 2 people hidden, or a person and some palatable food hidden under the wreckage in 2 places nearby). Ten searching dogs (1–6 years of age; 5 males, 5 females) were videotaped while working in the 3 different tasks. The videos were analyzed to measure the frequency of stress signals. To be sure that the videotaped sessions had not been a source of stress for the dog, fecal samples were collected in the morning for cortisol level evaluation for 5 consecutive days, starting the day before the session. For the same reason, behavioral observations were carried out twice on the day before the training session, just before, just after, and 90 minutes after the session ended. A questionnaire on the usual management and behavior of the dogs was also filled in by the owners. The results of neither the ‘‘before and after session’’ behavioral observations or the cortisol levels gave any indication that the videotaped session could have been stressful for the dogs. No difference was found in the ‘‘in session’’ frequency of stress signs among the three tasks. The most frequent behavioral sign of stress during the training sessions were

THE TEMPERAMENT OF SHELTER DOGS Costanza De Palma* Department of Anatomy, Biochemistry and Veterinary, University of Pisa, Rome, Italy. *Corresponding author: [email protected] Temperament and physiologic profile assessment of dogs placed for adoption in a shelter would be of value for the management of the shelter. It would allow predictions about the (re)activity of dogs in the new environment and, at the same time, make it possible to alert the future owner on the characteristics of the dog he is going to adopt. Seventy-four dogs, housed in a public shelter and veterinary hospital in Rome, were observed using ‘‘focal animal sampling’’ and ‘‘all occurrences’’ methods on the basis of a specific ethogram that consisted of 110 (in the box), 115 (open fenced area within the shelter), and 25 (interactive session in the open space) behavior patterns (De Palma et al., 2005). Nine observations were carried out for each dog: (1) inside the box for 3 sessions of observation (30 min/session); (2) in an open space within the shelter for 2 sessions of observation (30 min/session) without interaction; (3) in an open space inside the shelter for 2 sessions of observation with interaction; (4) outside the shelter for a walk for 2 sessions of observation. In addition, 3 fecal samples were collected from each dog on 3 consecutive days during the dog’s daily routine, to measure the levels of cortisol metabolites (CM) and to evaluate adrenocortical activity. A principal component analysis (PCA) was used with the aim of defining the main ‘‘factors’’ characterizing the observed animals. The values of these factors were correlated with the levels of CM by means of the Spearman rank correlation test. The PCA identified 5 primary factors (F1, subordination/ aggressiveness; F2, intra-specific dominance-activity; F3, anxiety-sociability toward dogs; F4, playfulness; F5, sociability toward humans) with eigenvalues .1 that accounted for 56% of the total variability. Any correlation of 0.50 or above was deemed relevant for the variable loading on each factor. An inverse correlation was found between CM levels and the fifth factor of PCA (r 5 20.276, n 5 39, P 5 0.08). The results show a very high individual variability. In general, a distinction may be made between a confident-