- Email: [email protected]
Do cortisol and testosterone levels covary with social role in domestic dogs?
Abstracts / Journal of Veterinary Behavior 8 (2013) e27ee46
6 Dogs in animal assisted interventions: Better with the owner C. MURO 1, *, I. LINAZA 1 1 Asociación de Perros de Asistencia AEPA Euskadi, C/Puente de Deusto 14, 1 -1 e 48014 Bilbao e SPAIN *Corresponding author: [email protected] The presence of dogs in Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI) sessions is becoming increasingly frequent. Too often dogs live permanently in the facilities where the sessions are carried out like prisons or residences for elderly people. Other dogs live in shelters, from where they are taken to go to the AAI session. Residences, shelters and prisons are not good places for dogs to live: human-dog and dog-dog relationships are low quality and no specific social or environmental enrichment programs exist. These deficiencies have an adverse impact on its quality of life and cause high levels of stress, physical and emotional problems. In our AAI programs, dogs live at home with their owner, who also participates in the AAI session. The owner is who can best provide the optimal conditions of live for the dog before and after the session: basic needs, social contact with other dogs and humans and a real enriched environment. The active participation of the owner in the session allows extending these optimal conditions to the AAI session. Dogs feel as relaxed and confident during the session as they feel at home. AAI organizations must be aware that dogs living in facilities are animals in captivity. Thus, a scrupulous environmental enrichment program and a careful monitoring of the welfare of the dogs have to be carried out. If possible, dogs participating in AAI should live at home, in a family environment. The owner of the dog should be present in the session. Key words: animal welfare; therapy dogs
7 Evaluation of a diet supplement on anxiety signs on dog SIMONA CANNAS*, ELISABETTA SCAGLI, FEDERICA MALTESE, MANUELA MICHELAZZI ARSEBAU (Associazione per la Ricerca e lo Studio dell’Etologia e del Benessere Animale-Uomo), Via Primavera 3, 20095 Cusano Milanino, Milano, Italy *Corresponding author: [email protected] Behavioral problems represent one of the main causes of death and relinquishment of pets and often shown an underlying anxiety. A randomized, clinical trial was designed to evaluate the effect of a dietary supplement composed by Valeriana officinalis, Melissa officinalis and tryptophan (EquilibriaÒ) and a diet associated, on signs of anxiety in dogs. 15 dogs were administered with the dietary supplement and the diet associated (therapy group) and 15 dogs didn’t receive the dietary supplement and didn’t change the diet (control group). Dogs were randomly assigned to each group, balanced for age, sex and anxiety level. The owners were recruited as volunteers and the dogs were selected by a pre-treatment questionnaire to identify anxiety signs. No information was conveyed about the presence of the two groups, nor about the anxiolitic effects of the supplement. No behavioral therapy was associated. After 2 months a follow-up questionnaire was administered. For every dog was calculate a score coming from the frequency and intensity of anxiety signs (0 for no changes; 1 for worsening; +1 for improvement). The global score of the “therapy group” (1.50 0.51) was significantly lower as opposed to the “control group” one (8.93 10.14) (P < 0.005), showing statistically significant improvements in frequency and intensity of several signs (P < 0.005), like follow the owner, aggressive behaviors, house soiling, restlessness, excessive vocalizations, destructions and coprophagia.
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Helping to decreasing the anxiety, the dietary supplement could support the behavioral therapy. Their lacks of side effects make them easy to suggest and administer. Key words: anxiety; dog; diet supplement 8 Ethological study of labrador retrievers’ water interaction and relative preference S. TAVARES 1, *, A. MAGALHÃES 1,2, L. DE SOUSA 1 1 Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, Porto, P 4050-313 2 Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular (IBMC), Rua do Campo Alegre 823, Porto, P 4150-180 *Corresponding author: [email protected] The Labrador retriever is a breed of domestic dog (Canis familiaris) important in our current society. Primarily selected to be an excellent water dog and work with fishermen, this breed is also very sociable, approaching and seeking human contact, besides contact with other dogs. Nowadays, this breed tends to be separated from the water; however, how this stimulus is important for the animal is still unknown. To initiate a scientific understanding on this matter, the objective of this study was to understand whether the group of Labrador retrievers studied would show a relative preference for aquatic environments. To achieve this, we designed an arena test with a water stimulus (swimming pool) and two other stimuli - a friendly dog and a friendly human. All 3 stimuli are considered positive and non-aversive to this specific breed. The consistent selection of one over the others can suggest any relative preference. The frequency of approaches and the duration of interactions of ten Labrador retrievers towards the different stimuli were measured during 2 minute periods, in three trials, in three non-consecutive days, with the three stimuli present at the same time in the arena. Results showed that the dogs approached the stimulus of the water significantly more often than the dog (P < 0.01) and the human (P < 0.05), and spent more time interacting with water than with the dog (P < 0.05) or the human (P < 0.05). These results suggest a relative preference of this group of Labrador retrievers for water stimulus, which may indicate the importance of aquatic environments to this breed. Key words: Labrador retriever; relative preference; aquatic environments 9 Do cortisol and testosterone levels covary with social role in domestic dogs? M. CASTRO 1, *, C. WALSH 2 1 Cognitive and Behavioral Ecology Programme, Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada 2 Canine Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada *Corresponding author: [email protected] The scientific knowledge about domestic dogs in the area of social organization is heavily influenced by research done on gray wolves. While feral dogs appear to exhibit submissive behavior to defuse conflicts, they do not adopt a wolf-pack-like social system that focuses around a dominant breeding pair. In popular culture, the idea of “top dog” is widespread; however, there has not yet been a study to examine whether pet dogs living in a permanent social group take on consistent social roles, and what factors are related to such. Using animals from multi-dog homes, this study compares different methods for measuring social status: owner impressions evaluated by questionnaires; toy-possession test conducted during a visit to the multi-dog home and tail-base position and social behaviors during the toy-possession test. Saliva samples are collected before, during and after the visit to obtain cortisol and testosterone levels. Both hormones have been linked to social status
e30
Abstracts / Journal of Veterinary Behavior 8 (2013) e27ee46
and seem to regulate whether an animal comes out as more dominant or more submissive after a conspecific agonistic interaction. It is hypothesized that both baseline and changes in testosterone and cortisol levels can predict the outcomes of social interactions between cohabiting dogs. If cohabiting dogs form a consistent social rank structure, these outcomes may be predicted by owner questionnaire responses. Key words: dogs; Canis; social behavior
10 Assessing therapy dogs’ welfare in animal-assisted interventions L.M. GLENK 1,2, *, O.D. KOTHGASSNER 3, B.U. STETINA 4, R. PALME 2, B. KEPPLINGER 1,5, H. BARAN 1 1 Neurochemical Laboratory, Karl Landsteiner Research Institute for Pain Treatment and Neurorehabilitation, LKM Mauer-Amstetten, Austria 2 Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Biochemistry, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria 3 Department of Applied Psychology: Health, Development, Enhancement & Intervention, Working Group Clinical Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria 4 Workgroup Counselling Psychology, Department of Psychology, Webster University Vienna, Austria 5 Department of Neurology, Neuropsychiatric Hospital Mauer, Amstetten-Mauer, Austria *Corresponding author: [email protected] The inclusion of animals as a therapeutic adjunct is becoming increasingly popular in mental health institutions. Past studies focused primarily on human physical and psychological health rather than animal welfare. Thus, the main purpose of this study was to evaluate the physiological and behavioral effects of animalassisted interventions (AAIs) on therapy dogs (n ¼ 21). The dogs participated in weekly group therapy (8-10 patients) sessions in adult mental health care. We determined home and pre-post session levels of salivary cortisol, a glucocorticoid hormone which fluctuates with psychological stress and arousal. Moreover, video recordings were analysed to monitor dogs’ motion (lay, sit, stand, walk and run) and specific behaviors (yawning, lip licking, paw lifting, body shake and body stretch). We found that salivary cortisol levels do not increase during AAIs in certified, experienced therapy dogs or therapy dogs in training. However, in dogs that are off the lead, working cortisol levels significantly decreased in comparison to dogs on the lead. In addition, there was no difference between baseline samples taken at work or at home. Video analysis of five dogs’ motion and specific behaviors during five subsequent AAI sessions indicated no differences in frequency or duration of target behaviors, but negative correlations of lip licking and cortisol were detected. The results of this investigation shall provide insights into the physiological and behavioral welfare of dogs in AAIs and furthermore contribute to increase the standards of education, certification and, most importantly, the quality of life in therapeutic dogs. Key words: animal-assisted therapy; dogs; animal welfare; cortisol; behavior
11 Physical prompts to anthropomorphism of the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) J. HECHT 1, *, A. HOROWITZ 2 1 Horowitz Dog Cognition Lab, Barnard College, Psychology Department, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, USA 2 Barnard College, Psychology Department, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, USA *Corresponding author: [email protected]
Morphological qualities could be instrumental to when and why humans anthropomorphize dogs. This study contributes to the investigation of the physical prompts for anthropomorphizing dogs by exploring human preference for specific physical attributes. One hundred twenty-four human subjects participated in an aesthetic preference test in which they viewed 80 matched image-pairs of mixed-breed adult dogs. Both instances of the image-pairs had a single featuredsuch as eyes, jowls, and naresdthat was modified in size to create a difference of 15% between the two images. The chosen features were those customarily associated with neoteny, ostensible human similarity, symmetry, size, and dog health. The images of each pair thus differed slightly, nearly imperceptibly, in order to explore the contribution of particular physical attributes to humans’ avowed preference for one dog over another. Subjects evinced a preference for human-like attributes and some, but not all, reported aspects of neoteny. By contrast, subjects showed no preference for attributes relating to size, symmetry or well-being. In some cases, subjects’ selections were not uniform and varied by perceptions of and life experiences with animals. The findings suggest that a long-theorized human behaviord anthropomorphizing animalsdcan be systematically investigated and tested not only in connection to behavior, but also in regards to morphological attributes. Additionally, we show that neoteny does not consistently explain subjects’ preferences; nor are other theories sufficient. The present study lays the foundation for exploring the meanings humans assign to dogs and their morphologies. Key words: dog; anthropomorphism; cute response; neoteny
12 Sensitivity to unequal rewards in the domestic dog: Quantity over fairness ALEXANDRA HOROWITZ* Department of Psychology, Barnard College, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY, 10025 USA *Corresponding author: [email protected] The history of domestic dogs – their descent from social Canids; their breeding for working cooperatively with humans – suggests that the species might have a highly developed sense of what is called "fairness" or "justice" in primate literature. In this research we ask if dogs perceive and respond to unfairness or injustice. The protocol is a revised test of inequity aversion modeled on a classic study of justice with humans (Pritchard et al., 1972) which looked at both "advantageous" and "disadvantageous" inequity; only advantageous inequity had previously been explored with dogs (Range et al., 2009). Thirty-eight subject dogs and a control dog together approached two trainers in turn: one who rewarded them equally for sitting on command, and one who rewarded them unequally – either overrewarding or under-rewarding the control dog. After familiarization with the trainers, subjects chose which trainer to approach alone. Subjects preferred the over-rewarding trainer over the fair trainer (c2(1) ¼ 10.13, P ¼ 0.001); they had no preference between the under-rewarding and the fair trainer (c2(1) ¼ 0.03, P ¼ 0.86). Unlike prior findings, these results suggest that subject dogs were neither averse to advantageous nor disadvantageous inequity. Dogs behaved so as to maximize quantity of reward rather than attending to the "fairness" of prior outcomes. The results have both conceptual implications – demonstrating the salience of concepts of quantity and fairness for dogs – and methodological implications, highlighting the need to be sure of the dog’s interpretation of the experimental task. Key words: inequity aversion; fairness; methodology
References Pritchard, D., Dunnette, M.D., Jorgenson, D.O., 1972. Effects of perceptions of equity and inequity on worker performance and satisfaction. J. Appl. Psychol 56, 75e94.
6 Dogs in animal assisted interventions: Better with the owner C. MURO 1, *, I. LINAZA 1 1 Asociación de Perros de Asistencia AEPA Euskadi, C/Puente de Deusto 14, 1 -1 e 48014 Bilbao e SPAIN *Corresponding author: [email protected] The presence of dogs in Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI) sessions is becoming increasingly frequent. Too often dogs live permanently in the facilities where the sessions are carried out like prisons or residences for elderly people. Other dogs live in shelters, from where they are taken to go to the AAI session. Residences, shelters and prisons are not good places for dogs to live: human-dog and dog-dog relationships are low quality and no specific social or environmental enrichment programs exist. These deficiencies have an adverse impact on its quality of life and cause high levels of stress, physical and emotional problems. In our AAI programs, dogs live at home with their owner, who also participates in the AAI session. The owner is who can best provide the optimal conditions of live for the dog before and after the session: basic needs, social contact with other dogs and humans and a real enriched environment. The active participation of the owner in the session allows extending these optimal conditions to the AAI session. Dogs feel as relaxed and confident during the session as they feel at home. AAI organizations must be aware that dogs living in facilities are animals in captivity. Thus, a scrupulous environmental enrichment program and a careful monitoring of the welfare of the dogs have to be carried out. If possible, dogs participating in AAI should live at home, in a family environment. The owner of the dog should be present in the session. Key words: animal welfare; therapy dogs
7 Evaluation of a diet supplement on anxiety signs on dog SIMONA CANNAS*, ELISABETTA SCAGLI, FEDERICA MALTESE, MANUELA MICHELAZZI ARSEBAU (Associazione per la Ricerca e lo Studio dell’Etologia e del Benessere Animale-Uomo), Via Primavera 3, 20095 Cusano Milanino, Milano, Italy *Corresponding author: [email protected] Behavioral problems represent one of the main causes of death and relinquishment of pets and often shown an underlying anxiety. A randomized, clinical trial was designed to evaluate the effect of a dietary supplement composed by Valeriana officinalis, Melissa officinalis and tryptophan (EquilibriaÒ) and a diet associated, on signs of anxiety in dogs. 15 dogs were administered with the dietary supplement and the diet associated (therapy group) and 15 dogs didn’t receive the dietary supplement and didn’t change the diet (control group). Dogs were randomly assigned to each group, balanced for age, sex and anxiety level. The owners were recruited as volunteers and the dogs were selected by a pre-treatment questionnaire to identify anxiety signs. No information was conveyed about the presence of the two groups, nor about the anxiolitic effects of the supplement. No behavioral therapy was associated. After 2 months a follow-up questionnaire was administered. For every dog was calculate a score coming from the frequency and intensity of anxiety signs (0 for no changes; 1 for worsening; +1 for improvement). The global score of the “therapy group” (1.50 0.51) was significantly lower as opposed to the “control group” one (8.93 10.14) (P < 0.005), showing statistically significant improvements in frequency and intensity of several signs (P < 0.005), like follow the owner, aggressive behaviors, house soiling, restlessness, excessive vocalizations, destructions and coprophagia.
e29
Helping to decreasing the anxiety, the dietary supplement could support the behavioral therapy. Their lacks of side effects make them easy to suggest and administer. Key words: anxiety; dog; diet supplement 8 Ethological study of labrador retrievers’ water interaction and relative preference S. TAVARES 1, *, A. MAGALHÃES 1,2, L. DE SOUSA 1 1 Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, Porto, P 4050-313 2 Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular (IBMC), Rua do Campo Alegre 823, Porto, P 4150-180 *Corresponding author: [email protected] The Labrador retriever is a breed of domestic dog (Canis familiaris) important in our current society. Primarily selected to be an excellent water dog and work with fishermen, this breed is also very sociable, approaching and seeking human contact, besides contact with other dogs. Nowadays, this breed tends to be separated from the water; however, how this stimulus is important for the animal is still unknown. To initiate a scientific understanding on this matter, the objective of this study was to understand whether the group of Labrador retrievers studied would show a relative preference for aquatic environments. To achieve this, we designed an arena test with a water stimulus (swimming pool) and two other stimuli - a friendly dog and a friendly human. All 3 stimuli are considered positive and non-aversive to this specific breed. The consistent selection of one over the others can suggest any relative preference. The frequency of approaches and the duration of interactions of ten Labrador retrievers towards the different stimuli were measured during 2 minute periods, in three trials, in three non-consecutive days, with the three stimuli present at the same time in the arena. Results showed that the dogs approached the stimulus of the water significantly more often than the dog (P < 0.01) and the human (P < 0.05), and spent more time interacting with water than with the dog (P < 0.05) or the human (P < 0.05). These results suggest a relative preference of this group of Labrador retrievers for water stimulus, which may indicate the importance of aquatic environments to this breed. Key words: Labrador retriever; relative preference; aquatic environments 9 Do cortisol and testosterone levels covary with social role in domestic dogs? M. CASTRO 1, *, C. WALSH 2 1 Cognitive and Behavioral Ecology Programme, Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada 2 Canine Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada *Corresponding author: [email protected] The scientific knowledge about domestic dogs in the area of social organization is heavily influenced by research done on gray wolves. While feral dogs appear to exhibit submissive behavior to defuse conflicts, they do not adopt a wolf-pack-like social system that focuses around a dominant breeding pair. In popular culture, the idea of “top dog” is widespread; however, there has not yet been a study to examine whether pet dogs living in a permanent social group take on consistent social roles, and what factors are related to such. Using animals from multi-dog homes, this study compares different methods for measuring social status: owner impressions evaluated by questionnaires; toy-possession test conducted during a visit to the multi-dog home and tail-base position and social behaviors during the toy-possession test. Saliva samples are collected before, during and after the visit to obtain cortisol and testosterone levels. Both hormones have been linked to social status
e30
Abstracts / Journal of Veterinary Behavior 8 (2013) e27ee46
and seem to regulate whether an animal comes out as more dominant or more submissive after a conspecific agonistic interaction. It is hypothesized that both baseline and changes in testosterone and cortisol levels can predict the outcomes of social interactions between cohabiting dogs. If cohabiting dogs form a consistent social rank structure, these outcomes may be predicted by owner questionnaire responses. Key words: dogs; Canis; social behavior
10 Assessing therapy dogs’ welfare in animal-assisted interventions L.M. GLENK 1,2, *, O.D. KOTHGASSNER 3, B.U. STETINA 4, R. PALME 2, B. KEPPLINGER 1,5, H. BARAN 1 1 Neurochemical Laboratory, Karl Landsteiner Research Institute for Pain Treatment and Neurorehabilitation, LKM Mauer-Amstetten, Austria 2 Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Biochemistry, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria 3 Department of Applied Psychology: Health, Development, Enhancement & Intervention, Working Group Clinical Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria 4 Workgroup Counselling Psychology, Department of Psychology, Webster University Vienna, Austria 5 Department of Neurology, Neuropsychiatric Hospital Mauer, Amstetten-Mauer, Austria *Corresponding author: [email protected] The inclusion of animals as a therapeutic adjunct is becoming increasingly popular in mental health institutions. Past studies focused primarily on human physical and psychological health rather than animal welfare. Thus, the main purpose of this study was to evaluate the physiological and behavioral effects of animalassisted interventions (AAIs) on therapy dogs (n ¼ 21). The dogs participated in weekly group therapy (8-10 patients) sessions in adult mental health care. We determined home and pre-post session levels of salivary cortisol, a glucocorticoid hormone which fluctuates with psychological stress and arousal. Moreover, video recordings were analysed to monitor dogs’ motion (lay, sit, stand, walk and run) and specific behaviors (yawning, lip licking, paw lifting, body shake and body stretch). We found that salivary cortisol levels do not increase during AAIs in certified, experienced therapy dogs or therapy dogs in training. However, in dogs that are off the lead, working cortisol levels significantly decreased in comparison to dogs on the lead. In addition, there was no difference between baseline samples taken at work or at home. Video analysis of five dogs’ motion and specific behaviors during five subsequent AAI sessions indicated no differences in frequency or duration of target behaviors, but negative correlations of lip licking and cortisol were detected. The results of this investigation shall provide insights into the physiological and behavioral welfare of dogs in AAIs and furthermore contribute to increase the standards of education, certification and, most importantly, the quality of life in therapeutic dogs. Key words: animal-assisted therapy; dogs; animal welfare; cortisol; behavior
11 Physical prompts to anthropomorphism of the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) J. HECHT 1, *, A. HOROWITZ 2 1 Horowitz Dog Cognition Lab, Barnard College, Psychology Department, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, USA 2 Barnard College, Psychology Department, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, USA *Corresponding author: [email protected]
Morphological qualities could be instrumental to when and why humans anthropomorphize dogs. This study contributes to the investigation of the physical prompts for anthropomorphizing dogs by exploring human preference for specific physical attributes. One hundred twenty-four human subjects participated in an aesthetic preference test in which they viewed 80 matched image-pairs of mixed-breed adult dogs. Both instances of the image-pairs had a single featuredsuch as eyes, jowls, and naresdthat was modified in size to create a difference of 15% between the two images. The chosen features were those customarily associated with neoteny, ostensible human similarity, symmetry, size, and dog health. The images of each pair thus differed slightly, nearly imperceptibly, in order to explore the contribution of particular physical attributes to humans’ avowed preference for one dog over another. Subjects evinced a preference for human-like attributes and some, but not all, reported aspects of neoteny. By contrast, subjects showed no preference for attributes relating to size, symmetry or well-being. In some cases, subjects’ selections were not uniform and varied by perceptions of and life experiences with animals. The findings suggest that a long-theorized human behaviord anthropomorphizing animalsdcan be systematically investigated and tested not only in connection to behavior, but also in regards to morphological attributes. Additionally, we show that neoteny does not consistently explain subjects’ preferences; nor are other theories sufficient. The present study lays the foundation for exploring the meanings humans assign to dogs and their morphologies. Key words: dog; anthropomorphism; cute response; neoteny
12 Sensitivity to unequal rewards in the domestic dog: Quantity over fairness ALEXANDRA HOROWITZ* Department of Psychology, Barnard College, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY, 10025 USA *Corresponding author: [email protected] The history of domestic dogs – their descent from social Canids; their breeding for working cooperatively with humans – suggests that the species might have a highly developed sense of what is called "fairness" or "justice" in primate literature. In this research we ask if dogs perceive and respond to unfairness or injustice. The protocol is a revised test of inequity aversion modeled on a classic study of justice with humans (Pritchard et al., 1972) which looked at both "advantageous" and "disadvantageous" inequity; only advantageous inequity had previously been explored with dogs (Range et al., 2009). Thirty-eight subject dogs and a control dog together approached two trainers in turn: one who rewarded them equally for sitting on command, and one who rewarded them unequally – either overrewarding or under-rewarding the control dog. After familiarization with the trainers, subjects chose which trainer to approach alone. Subjects preferred the over-rewarding trainer over the fair trainer (c2(1) ¼ 10.13, P ¼ 0.001); they had no preference between the under-rewarding and the fair trainer (c2(1) ¼ 0.03, P ¼ 0.86). Unlike prior findings, these results suggest that subject dogs were neither averse to advantageous nor disadvantageous inequity. Dogs behaved so as to maximize quantity of reward rather than attending to the "fairness" of prior outcomes. The results have both conceptual implications – demonstrating the salience of concepts of quantity and fairness for dogs – and methodological implications, highlighting the need to be sure of the dog’s interpretation of the experimental task. Key words: inequity aversion; fairness; methodology
References Pritchard, D., Dunnette, M.D., Jorgenson, D.O., 1972. Effects of perceptions of equity and inequity on worker performance and satisfaction. J. Appl. Psychol 56, 75e94.