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Do dogs detect distress as humans do? a cortisol study.
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Abstracts / Journal of Veterinary Behavior 8 (2013) e27ee46
Test trials latency was longer than in GL trials (p¼0.001; SE¼263.5). In L dogs achieved the learning criterion in an average of 13067 trials, which were fewer than those needed in GL (p¼0.018; SE¼5.90). Moreover, latency was shorter in L than in GL (p¼0.029; SE¼91.43). Dogs showed a global precedence in the visual processing of hierarchical stimuli, as seen in humans. L phase demonstrated that dogs could perceive local features. The faster acquisition and shorter latency in L might have been due to a previous reinforcement of the local shape during GL. Key words: visual perception; global-local processing; dog 30 Montessori-method for dogs BIRGIT HORVATH* VAK- Verein Akademischer KynologInnen, Dr. Karl Rennergasse 14, 2542 Kottingbrunn, Austria *Corresponding author: [email protected] My former practice in the Montessori Method and my long lasting work and experiences with dogs of all ages prompted me to investigate the application possibilities of M`s concepts of “Sensitive Periods SP” and “Prepared Environment PE” for the education of growing dogs. Following the fundamental principles of M`s concept I tried to compare her doctrines with the up to now valid fundamentals of education for adolescent dogs. The observation of dogs during their development and their education is very important. Therefor the need of knowledge about the “SP” in the development of dogs and recognizing the needs they have is essentially. A careful observation is the key to make aware for the “SP” to facilitate environment and prosperous development. The bitch instinctively knows how to nurse and how to educate her whelps. This is in best accordance with requirements of a natural environment in which puppies can make important experiences and practice their skills. The “PE” and the conscious dog handler should emulate this situation. Due to this method I expect the dog handlers’ attitudes towards their dogs will change into a more respectful and loving one. Dogs that developed like their inner path demanded will be integrated, self-confident and contended and will love to work with and for their handlers. In my study I tried to work out the importance of the “PE” and the role of breeders and handlers for the development during the “SP” for dogs following M.`s concept for children Key words: Sensitive Periods; Prepared Environment; Development; Montessori; Observation 31 Do dogs detect distress as humans do? a cortisol study. M.H. YONG, T. RUFFMAN* Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand *Corresponding author: [email protected] The present study examined whether dogs show an increased stress response when listening to a human infant crying. When a human hears an infant crying, s/he often responds with an increase in cortisol level. This response is sometimes described as empathy. Seventy four dogs (M ¼ 5.29 years, 41 females) and 71 young adult humans (M ¼ 21.46 years, 36 females) were assigned to one of three conditions: a human infant crying, a human infant babbling, and computer-generated “white noise”. Saliva samples were taken from both dogs and humans to determine the cortisol levels before and after the auditory stimulus. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to analyse the cortisol concentration in the saliva samples. We conducted a 2 (Time: before, after) x 2 (Species: human, dog) x 3 (condition: infant crying, infant babbling, white noise) analysis of variance with cortisol level as the dependent variable. There was a
significant interaction F(2, 139) ¼ 3.13, P ¼ 0.04. The source of this interaction was the response to infant crying in humans. Humans showed a significant increase in cortisol levels after listening to infant crying, P ¼ 0.04, whereas dogs did not, P ¼ 0.78. These results are not consistent with the idea that dogs understand expressions of human distress, or with the idea that dogs respond empathically. Key words: Cortisol; emotions; distress 32 Social referencing: dogs’ use of emotional signals from an unfamiliar person M.H. YONG, T. RUFFMAN* Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand *Corresponding author: [email protected] Dog owners often claim that their dogs “understand” human emotions. Consistent with this idea, one study found that dogs explored a stimulus when the owner’s expression was happy, but not when the owner was fearful. However, there is a possibility that the owner’s fearful expression might have been unknown to the dog, thus causing the dog to become confused, and may have resulted in general anxiety and reluctance to explore the stimulus. We examined dogs’ exploration of a toy when the experimenter reacted either happily towards the toy, fearfully, or in a confusing manner (like a chicken). Unlike the fearful expression, the confused expression does not communicate meaningful information about whether to explore the object. The experimenter then left the room for one minute. Dogs’ (N ¼ 32) responses were analysed after the experimenter had left the room. Dogs were in close proximity to the toy longer in the happy condition compared to the fearful and confused conditions, both P < 0.05. Dogs responded similarly towards the toy both when the experimenter provided meaningful information about the toy (fear) and when the information was not meaningful (chicken). These findings are consistent with the idea that dogs experience general confusion and anxiety when encountering the fearful expression, and rather than understanding the fearful expression as a meaningful message about the toy, they might fail to explore the toy because of heightened anxiety after failing to understand the fearful expression. Key words: Social referencing; emotions; domestic dogs 33 Genetic evaluation of temperament traits in the rough collie P. ARVELIUS*, K. GRANDINSON Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Dept. of Animal Breeding and Genetics, PO Box 7023, S-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden *Corresponding author: [email protected] Fear-related problems are common in the Swedish rough collie (RC). The aim of this study was to develop a genetic evaluation for temperament, based on the Swedish Dog Mentality Assessment (DMA - a field test used in large scale to characterize temperament traits in dogs), thereby facilitating more effective selection of breeding animals. Genetic analyses were performed on the individual DMA variables, and on five broader composite/personality traits. A traditional quantitative genetic evaluation was used, which relies on using pedigree information and resemblance between relatives to estimate genetic (co)variances and breeding values. DMA data were available from 2,550 RC and the pedigree contained 42,523 dogs. Genetic parameters were estimated using a linear mixed model including fixed effects of sex, age, year and test month, and random effects of litter, judge, test site, breeding value of the individual dog and residual. Heritabilities ranged from 0.050.31 e the higher values for the personality traits. Validation of the DMA was done using the C-BARQ questionnaire. Owners of RC aged from 6 mo to 10 years were targeted and information about 1,766 dogs was generated (a reply rate of 50%). Of these, 935 had
Abstracts / Journal of Veterinary Behavior 8 (2013) e27ee46
Test trials latency was longer than in GL trials (p¼0.001; SE¼263.5). In L dogs achieved the learning criterion in an average of 13067 trials, which were fewer than those needed in GL (p¼0.018; SE¼5.90). Moreover, latency was shorter in L than in GL (p¼0.029; SE¼91.43). Dogs showed a global precedence in the visual processing of hierarchical stimuli, as seen in humans. L phase demonstrated that dogs could perceive local features. The faster acquisition and shorter latency in L might have been due to a previous reinforcement of the local shape during GL. Key words: visual perception; global-local processing; dog 30 Montessori-method for dogs BIRGIT HORVATH* VAK- Verein Akademischer KynologInnen, Dr. Karl Rennergasse 14, 2542 Kottingbrunn, Austria *Corresponding author: [email protected] My former practice in the Montessori Method and my long lasting work and experiences with dogs of all ages prompted me to investigate the application possibilities of M`s concepts of “Sensitive Periods SP” and “Prepared Environment PE” for the education of growing dogs. Following the fundamental principles of M`s concept I tried to compare her doctrines with the up to now valid fundamentals of education for adolescent dogs. The observation of dogs during their development and their education is very important. Therefor the need of knowledge about the “SP” in the development of dogs and recognizing the needs they have is essentially. A careful observation is the key to make aware for the “SP” to facilitate environment and prosperous development. The bitch instinctively knows how to nurse and how to educate her whelps. This is in best accordance with requirements of a natural environment in which puppies can make important experiences and practice their skills. The “PE” and the conscious dog handler should emulate this situation. Due to this method I expect the dog handlers’ attitudes towards their dogs will change into a more respectful and loving one. Dogs that developed like their inner path demanded will be integrated, self-confident and contended and will love to work with and for their handlers. In my study I tried to work out the importance of the “PE” and the role of breeders and handlers for the development during the “SP” for dogs following M.`s concept for children Key words: Sensitive Periods; Prepared Environment; Development; Montessori; Observation 31 Do dogs detect distress as humans do? a cortisol study. M.H. YONG, T. RUFFMAN* Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand *Corresponding author: [email protected] The present study examined whether dogs show an increased stress response when listening to a human infant crying. When a human hears an infant crying, s/he often responds with an increase in cortisol level. This response is sometimes described as empathy. Seventy four dogs (M ¼ 5.29 years, 41 females) and 71 young adult humans (M ¼ 21.46 years, 36 females) were assigned to one of three conditions: a human infant crying, a human infant babbling, and computer-generated “white noise”. Saliva samples were taken from both dogs and humans to determine the cortisol levels before and after the auditory stimulus. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to analyse the cortisol concentration in the saliva samples. We conducted a 2 (Time: before, after) x 2 (Species: human, dog) x 3 (condition: infant crying, infant babbling, white noise) analysis of variance with cortisol level as the dependent variable. There was a
significant interaction F(2, 139) ¼ 3.13, P ¼ 0.04. The source of this interaction was the response to infant crying in humans. Humans showed a significant increase in cortisol levels after listening to infant crying, P ¼ 0.04, whereas dogs did not, P ¼ 0.78. These results are not consistent with the idea that dogs understand expressions of human distress, or with the idea that dogs respond empathically. Key words: Cortisol; emotions; distress 32 Social referencing: dogs’ use of emotional signals from an unfamiliar person M.H. YONG, T. RUFFMAN* Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand *Corresponding author: [email protected] Dog owners often claim that their dogs “understand” human emotions. Consistent with this idea, one study found that dogs explored a stimulus when the owner’s expression was happy, but not when the owner was fearful. However, there is a possibility that the owner’s fearful expression might have been unknown to the dog, thus causing the dog to become confused, and may have resulted in general anxiety and reluctance to explore the stimulus. We examined dogs’ exploration of a toy when the experimenter reacted either happily towards the toy, fearfully, or in a confusing manner (like a chicken). Unlike the fearful expression, the confused expression does not communicate meaningful information about whether to explore the object. The experimenter then left the room for one minute. Dogs’ (N ¼ 32) responses were analysed after the experimenter had left the room. Dogs were in close proximity to the toy longer in the happy condition compared to the fearful and confused conditions, both P < 0.05. Dogs responded similarly towards the toy both when the experimenter provided meaningful information about the toy (fear) and when the information was not meaningful (chicken). These findings are consistent with the idea that dogs experience general confusion and anxiety when encountering the fearful expression, and rather than understanding the fearful expression as a meaningful message about the toy, they might fail to explore the toy because of heightened anxiety after failing to understand the fearful expression. Key words: Social referencing; emotions; domestic dogs 33 Genetic evaluation of temperament traits in the rough collie P. ARVELIUS*, K. GRANDINSON Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Dept. of Animal Breeding and Genetics, PO Box 7023, S-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden *Corresponding author: [email protected] Fear-related problems are common in the Swedish rough collie (RC). The aim of this study was to develop a genetic evaluation for temperament, based on the Swedish Dog Mentality Assessment (DMA - a field test used in large scale to characterize temperament traits in dogs), thereby facilitating more effective selection of breeding animals. Genetic analyses were performed on the individual DMA variables, and on five broader composite/personality traits. A traditional quantitative genetic evaluation was used, which relies on using pedigree information and resemblance between relatives to estimate genetic (co)variances and breeding values. DMA data were available from 2,550 RC and the pedigree contained 42,523 dogs. Genetic parameters were estimated using a linear mixed model including fixed effects of sex, age, year and test month, and random effects of litter, judge, test site, breeding value of the individual dog and residual. Heritabilities ranged from 0.050.31 e the higher values for the personality traits. Validation of the DMA was done using the C-BARQ questionnaire. Owners of RC aged from 6 mo to 10 years were targeted and information about 1,766 dogs was generated (a reply rate of 50%). Of these, 935 had