Search Results (32)

Guide dogs are essential in supporting the autonomy of blind and visually impaired individuals. Austria is the first country to implement a legally mandated, two-stage certification protocol for the official recognition of guide dogs, assessed by an independent authority. The first stage includes two evaluation phases: the dog guides its familiar trainer (Phase 1) and then an unfamiliar blind tester (Phase 2). While Phase 2 ensures an objective assessment of guiding performance, it may also introduce stress due to the unfamiliar handler and separation from the trainer that could impact welfare and behaviour. This study aimed to evaluate whether Phase 2 of the Austrian evaluation protocol elicits higher stress than Phase 1 in guide dogs and, hence, needs to be refined in this regard by comparing physiological and behavioural responses between the two test phases. Fourteen guide dogs were assessed during real evaluations. Salivary cortisol was collected before the evaluation day and at several time points on the evaluation day (before and after each phase). Behavioural responses were coded from video recordings of the first 5 and 15 min of each phase, including stress-related behaviours, task-related performance behaviours, and handler behaviours. Cortisol levels did not differ significantly between the phases. Dogs turned around significantly more often in Phase 2, potentially seeking reassurance, but showed a non-significant trend toward fewer stress-related behaviours. Verbal praise occurred more frequently with the unfamiliar tester. These findings suggest that the current evaluation protocol does not induce substantial physiological or behavioural stress when dogs are guided by an unfamiliar tester, supporting its continued use as a welfare-conscious and objective certification approach that could also potentially serve as a model for other countries. Full article

The cases that dog trainers and behavior consultants face are often traumatic and emotionally challenging, especially under pressure from distressed clients. This study investigated whether more years of professional experience and higher levels of dog aggression contribute to burnout and whether the overall emotional toll of caring moderates these relationships. Eighty-six professionals completed the Professional Quality of Life Measure, which evaluates the positive aspects of caregiving and negative outcomes such as burnout and secondary traumatic stress. The analysis revealed that neither extended work experience nor increased dog aggression significantly predicted higher burnout levels, and the anticipated moderating effect of emotional strain was not observed. The levels of burnout and secondary traumatic stress in this sample were similar to those reported in other animal-care and human healthcare settings, while the satisfaction derived from caregiving remained relatively high. These results suggest that factors beyond years of experience and dog aggression—such as workplace support and individual coping mechanisms—may be more crucial in influencing burnout among these professionals. This study highlights the need for an expanded investigation of other possible influences, such as workplace support and personal coping mechanisms. Identifying specific challenges that dog trainers face and implementing strategies to offset burnout will create a healthier and more sustainable work environment and improve the quality of life for humans and their canine companions. Full article

A major reason people surrender their dogs or fail to adopt them from shelters is due to concerns regarding the management of behavioral issues. This makes effective training of everyday obedience behaviors crucial to dog welfare. Here, we test the playful learning hypothesis to examine whether play after a training session increases a dog’s success in learning two basic Canine Good Citizen behaviors: “sit” and “stay”. In two studies, the dogs experienced brief training sessions and then were assigned to either play or rest. The next day, they returned for another brief training session, and we measured any change in the duration that the dogs were able to hold a “sit” and “stay” from the first day. In Experiment 1, the subjects with low baseline levels of ability improved more after playing than those subjects that simply rested after training. However, Experiment 2, which further controlled for exercise and time spent with trainers, and standardized the measure of success across dogs regardless of their initial ability levels, did not replicate the improved performance in response to play after a training session. Overall, we find limited support for the application of the playful learning hypothesis to everyday training and suggest avenues for future research to determine how play might improve training outcomes for pet dogs. Full article

Dog training is an unregulated profession in Canada without licensing or standardized practices, yet professional dog trainers greatly influence how guardians interact with their dogs and, by extension, dog welfare. We conducted an online survey to characterize the demographics, qualifications, services, methods, and views of dog trainers in Canada. Of the 706 valid respondents, most (65%) had completed at least one structured dog training program, while 33% were self-educated. Respondents held qualifications from 138 training programs and 39 exam-based certifications that differed in their curriculum, duration, and scope. We identified over 80 different themes or terms that trainers use to describe their practices, with the most frequent relating to reward-based methods. Most respondents also indicated that they would be unlikely to use aversive collars. These findings suggest that reward-based methods are likely the most prevalent in Canada. Two-thirds (62%) supported some regulation of dog training. The quantity and variety of training programs, certifications, and terminology utilized by dog trainers could present challenges for dog guardians in selecting trainers, and/or result in the use of harmful training methods. These findings can inform further development of best practices, educational programs, and advocacy to advance the use of humane training methods. Full article

Dog trainers make widespread claims that training dogs to improve self-control is essential to solving behavior problems in domesticated dogs. We investigated whether one aspect of self-control, motor inhibition, covaries in dogs with varying levels and contexts of formal training. We tested pet dogs with little formal training and dogs with high levels of training who compete in scent work, barn hunt, and agility. All dogs were tested for motor inhibition on the cylinder task, a validated self-control task. First, in familiarization trials, dogs watched a piece of food placed inside an opaque cylinder and were subsequently allowed to retrieve it. Then, in test trials, dogs watched a piece of food placed inside a transparent cylinder. This transparent variation of the task requires dogs to inhibit the response to directly approach the now-visible food and instead detour to an open side. In contrast to the belief that highly trained dogs would uniformly demonstrate better self-control, trained dogs did not perform better than untrained dogs. In fact, dogs who competed in barn hunt performed significantly worse compared to untrained pet dogs. These findings suggest that self-control may involve a complex set of mental processes that do not uniformly generalize to multiple contexts. Full article

Despite an increase in research into cat and dog cognition, behavior, and welfare in recent decades, it is unclear whether pet owners are aware of recent advances in our understanding of cats and dogs. Misunderstandings about the reasons for animal behavior can lead to negative welfare outcomes for the animal, and potentially distress for the owner, so it is important for owners to understand the latest science on animal behavior. Current and former pet owners (N = 224) completed an online survey rating their agreement with a series of statements about cat and dog behavior. After completing the survey, participants were provided with a document describing the latest scientific knowledge about each of the statements in the survey. For both species, participant beliefs generally accord with the latest scientific knowledge, but there is evidence of remaining beliefs about aspects of dominance training theory in dogs, and the belief that cats are low-maintenance pets. These findings can be used by trainers and behaviorists to help educate owners about pet needs, working from the owner’s baseline knowledge and debunking persistent myths. Full article

Family dogs exhibit neuropsychological deficits similar to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in humans. Questionnaire methods have mostly been used to assess ADHD-like behaviours in dogs. In addition to our validated questionnaire (Dog ADHD and Functionality Rating Scale–DAFRS; 2024), we developed a simple behavioural test battery covering the ADHD symptom domains (i.e., inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity) in dogs. Our main aim was (i) to provide a final external validation step to the DAFRS by examining its associations with the test variables (N = 59); and (ii) to compare owner- and trainer-rated factor scores’ associations with the test variables (n = 38). We developed four tests covering the ADHD symptom domains: the attention test (inattention), the plush dog test (impulsivity), the leash test, and the sit test (hyperactivity). All four behavioural variables correlated with their respective questionnaire scores, i.e., the strongest for hyperactivity, and the least strong for inattention. Both owner- and trainer-rated scores (n = 38) correlated with the relevant test variables in an expected direction. Dogs’ training status was linked only to the sit test results. Test–retest analyses (n = 34) indicated moderate-to-excellent agreement across all behavioural variables. Our findings support the validity of our novel human-analogue questionnaire for dogs as the behavioural tests strongly correlate with the relevant questionnaire scores, indicating that the two constructs together can effectively assess inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity in dogs. Full article

While there has been recent attention in the scientific community on the ethical and welfare implications of different dog training methods, less research has investigated what methods and training tools United States dog guardians use, where they obtain information about dog training, and the reasons they give for their choices of method. We conducted two surveys with nearly 800 Arizona State University undergraduate students to gain a more realistic look into how dog guardians in the United States train their dogs and where they are receiving their training information. Only 5% of respondents reported utilizing a trainer when they had concerns regarding their dog’s behavior; 60% would ask a friend or family member or seek advice online. Few reported taking their dog to any training classes; 70% reported either training the dog themselves or not implementing any formal training. When asked general questions, most respondents reported using rewards-based methods but, when asked about specific problem behaviors, 57% of respondents noted that they would use auditory or physical corrections. Respondents who trained with rewards-based methods reported that these methods of training were more effective significantly more frequently than those who trained with mixed methods reported that those methods were most effective (Fisher’s Exact Test, p < 0.01). Full article

While numerous dog behavioral studies use environmental sounds, the dog soundscape remains undescribed. We proposed a list of 79 sounds classified into six categories: Dog, Dog accessories, Human, city and vehicles, Garden, countryside and weather, and Household. In a survey, 620 dog owners scored the frequency of their dog’s exposure to, and thus, the recurrence of, each of the 79 sounds, from never to daily. The survey results also extended to about 25 sounds the number of acknowledged sounds that are likely to elicit stress or fear, that is, negative emotional sensitivity, in dogs. Sound recurrence and emotional sensitivity were not correlated, showing no beneficial effect of frequent exposure to, and no deleterious effect of scarcity of, sound events. We suggest that for the sake of dog welfare, researchers, veterinarians, trainers, and owners may limit dogs’ exposure to the sensitive sounds identified in the study during their dog observations and dog–human interactions. A corpus of 84 sounds was collected. The sounds were spectrally analyzed by determining their F0 and 10 dB bandwidth parameters. At the lowest sound frequencies, where canine hearing is poorest, negative emotional sensitivity was generally low. At the middle and high sound center frequencies/F0s, sensitivity greatly varied from lowest to highest, which is incompatible with both the general assumption and dog auditory detection thresholds. How emotional sensitivity relates to F0 (pitch) and hearing sensitivity remains undetermined. Finally, we suggest that future behavioral audiometric studies of dogs may maximize the spectral spread of each sound while minimizing the spectral overlap between sounds so as to reduce both the testing duration and the risk of inadvertently targeting or, conversely, missing frequency-dependent hearing impairments. Full article

Preference assessments are often used to identify stimuli that function as potential reinforcers for training or intervention purposes. Specifically, various preference assessment formats have been used to identify preferred stimuli for humans, cockroaches, cotton-top tamarins, tortoises, and wolves, to name a few. However, to date, no study has evaluated the differential efficacy between food and leisure stimuli within domestic dogs. The current study aimed to compare the reinforcing value and efficacy between food and leisure stimuli for domestic dogs by comparing rates of behavior when receiving access to either their top-preferred food or leisure items. Overall results suggest (1) domestic dogs prefer food over leisure items, and (2) food is more likely to function as a reinforcer than leisure items for domestic dog’s behavior. These results suggest that dog owners and trainers should consider using food reinforcers over leisure items as reinforcers when attempting to train dogs. Full article

A basic understanding of dog behaviour and emotion is relevant not only for professionals, such as veterinary personnel or dog trainers, but also for dog owners and for people with little contact with dogs. Information about dog behaviour and emotions is mostly conveyed verbally. This study explores whether definitions of dog behaviour and emotion are understood in such a way that they can be allocated to a descriptor (i.e., a label such as “fearful”), even by people with low background knowledge. If people can match descriptors to definitions, this suggests that the definitions are distinct enough and elicit mental representations of behaviour that can fit the label. Good agreement on the definitions is a prerequisite for the validity of the descriptors used; however, no study to date has tested this. A sample of 236 adults was asked to match descriptors of Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA) for veterinary and shelter situations to their correct definitions, e.g., the descriptor “fearful” to its definition “dog may try to flee, hide or freeze; ears back”. Matching was substantially above chance; nonetheless, the mean proportion of correct responses was only 50% (SD ± 16.6%) for the veterinary QBA set and 33% (SD ± 14.3%) for the shelter QBA set. Performance in the matching task was positively correlated with measures of experience with dogs. Taken together, the results suggest that descriptor–definition pairs used to describe dog behaviour need to be clearly defined to avoid misinterpretations when teaching laypeople how to interpret canine behaviour. Full article

This study aims to assess the acquisition of surgical skills for laparoscopic ovariectomy (LOE) in dogs by veterinary surgeons with no experience in minimally invasive surgery using the CALMA Veterinary Lap-trainer simulator (CVLTS) in an experimental and analytical setting. Veterinary surgeons with no experience in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) (experimental, n = 5), and MIS experts (experts, n = 3) were evaluated. Experimental and expert group participants watched an instructional video (initial time) before practicing the LOE on uterine tissues and ovaries freshly reconstituted after elective ovariohysterectomy (initial time evaluation). Then, the experimental group practiced five training sessions on the composite simulator with permanent feedback and then performed the LOE again (final time evaluation). Surgical performances in initial and final evaluations were video recorded and further evaluated by three external MIS experts using Global objective assessment of laparoscopic skills (GOALS) and LOE-specific rating scales (SRSs) in a double-blinded schedule. In addition, a hands movement assessment system (HMAS) attached to the back of the hands was used to quantitatively measure completion time, angularity, and movement smoothness. Data were analyzed with one-factor ANOVA and Tukey’s contrast test. No statistically significant differences were found between the novice group’s performance after training and the expert group’s performance according to the GOALS (p < 0.01) and SRS (p < 0.05) scores. Moreover, the novices had significantly improved time, number of movements, and angularity in the final time compared with the initial time (p < 0.05), with no significant differences compared to the expert group (p > 0.05). LOE training using a composed simulator resulted in significantly improved laparoscopic skills and time, number, and angularity of movements data, providing evidence of the usefulness and reliability of CVLTS in training LOE. Full article

In a previous study, we found that Positive Reinforcement Training reduced cortisol of wolves and dogs; however, this effect varied across trainer–animal dyads. Here we investigate whether and how the trainers’ use of speech may contribute to this effect. Dogs’ great interest in high-pitched, intense speech (also known as Dog Directed Speech) has already been reported, but whether and how wolves respond similarly/differently to voice characteristics has never been studied before. We analyzed 270 training sessions, conducted by five trainers, with nine mixed-breed dogs and nine wolves, all human-socialized. Through Generalized Linear Mixed Models, we analyzed the effects of (a) three speech categories (nice, neutral, reprehensive) and laugh; and (b) acoustic characteristics of trainers’ voices on animals’ responses (correct responses, latency, orientation, time at less than 1 m, non-training behaviors, tail position/movements, cortisol variation). In both subspecies, tail wagging occurred more often in sessions with longer durations of nice speech, and less often in sessions with reprehensive speech. For dogs, the duration of reprehensive speech within a session was also negatively related to correct responses. For wolves, retreat time was associated with more reprehensive speech, whereas duration of nice speech was positively associated with time spent within one meter from the trainer. In addition, most dog behavioral responses were associated with higher average intonations within sessions, while wolf responses were correlated with lower intonations within sessions. We did not find any effects of the variables considered on cortisol variation. Our study highlights the relevance of voice tone and speech in a training context on animals’ performances and emotional reactions. Full article

To perform their role effectively, scent detection dogs require certain characteristics. Identifying these characteristics will inform the selection of prospective dogs and preferred approaches to their training. The current study drew upon the perspectives of industry stakeholders to identify the behavioural traits considered relevant for detection dogs in biosecurity screening roles. Dog handlers, trainers, and supervisors (n = 25) in Australian biosecurity operations participated in focus group interviews to determine the perceived characteristics that, in their experience, influence detection performance. Their descriptions were used to create a questionnaire which was then administered to handlers to assess the working behaviours of current biosecurity dogs. Responses were collected for 88% of the operational dogs (n = 36). An exploratory factor analysis revealed seven tentative dimensions: search motivation, emotional stability, search arousal, food motivation, play motivation, search independence, and search focus. Search motivation and search arousal were both positively associated with handler ratings of detection performance (p ≤ 0.006). In general, biosecurity dogs were scored consistently high in ratings of search motivation, emotional stability, and food motivation. Our approach has advanced our understanding of the working behaviours and characteristic profile of biosecurity detector dogs and will be used to inform candidate selection processes. Full article

A total of 112 dogs (49 males and 63 females) belonging to different breeds (i.e., Boxer, Cirneco dell’Etna, Fonni’s Dog, Labrador, Crossbreed, German Shepherd, Pit Bull, Shar-Pei, Yorkshire) were analyzed to compare the serum concentration of serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, prolactin, beta-endorphins, thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and assess whether these parameters can be correlated with the behavioral phenotype of the investigated breeds. T4 was above or below the threshold in 61% and 14% of dogs, respectively; T3, in contrast, 41% of dogs showed values below the limit, while 26% above it. TSH was within the reference range in 58% of dogs; 94% of the dogs had prolactin in the reference range and only five animals showed values above the limit. For beta-endorphins, 49% of dogs had values above the limit, while 46% had values within the reference range. Serotonin and dopamine values below physiological limits were found in 62% and 70% of dogs, respectively. Finally, 61% of the dogs showed norepinephrine values within the reference range. The study confirmed that the assessment of the serum values of hormones and neurotransmitters in dogs could be useful to better understand the behavioral phenotype of the animal and could be useful for breeders and trainers for the selection of the most suitable subjects for specific tasks. Full article