1. Behavioral and physiological reactions in dogs to a veterinary examination: Owner-dog interactions improve canine well-being
- Author
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Caroline Gilbert, Alain Boissy, Michaël Martineau, Erika Csoltova, École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort (ENVA), Unité Mixte de Recherche sur les Herbivores - UMR 1213 (UMRH), VetAgro Sup - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur et de recherche en alimentation, santé animale, sciences agronomiques et de l'environnement (VAS)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement, Nestle PURINA Research, and Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-VetAgro Sup - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur et de recherche en alimentation, santé animale, sciences agronomiques et de l'environnement (VAS)
- Subjects
Male ,Veterinary medicine ,Hydrocortisone ,[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,veterinary exam ,human-dog interaction ,[SHS]Humanities and Social Sciences ,Body Temperature ,0403 veterinary science ,Behavioral Neuroscience ,Lip licking ,well-being ,Heart Rate ,Medicine ,Young adult ,Salivary cortisol ,Cross-Over Studies ,Behavior, Animal ,Communication ,05 social sciences ,Human-Animal Bond ,04 agricultural and veterinary sciences ,Middle Aged ,dog ,Female ,Adult ,040301 veterinary sciences ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Motor Activity ,Young Adult ,Dogs ,Heart rate ,Animals ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,[INFO]Computer Science [cs] ,050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology ,Acute stress ,Saliva ,Aged ,business.industry ,behavior ,Crossover study ,Physiological responses ,Touch ,Well-being ,physiology ,Vocalization, Animal ,business ,Stress, Psychological - Abstract
International audience; n order to improve well-being of dogs during veterinary visits, we aimed to investigate the effect of human social interactions on behavior and physiology during routine examination. Firstly, we assessed the impact of a standardized veterinary examination on behavioral and physiological indicators of stress in dogs. Secondly, we examined whether the owner's tactile and verbal interactions with the dog influenced behavioral and physiological stress-associated parameters. A randomized within-subjects crossover design was used to examine behavior (n=33), rectal temperature (n=33), heart rate (HR) (n=18), maximal ocular surface temperature (max OST) (n=13) and salivary cortisol concentrations (n=10) in healthy privately owned pet dogs. The study consisted of two experimental conditions: a) "contact" - owner petting and talking to the dog during the examination; b) "non-contact" - owner present during the examination but not allowed to interact with the dog. Our findings showed that the veterinary examinations produced acute stress responses in dogs during both "contact" and "non-contact" conditions, with significant increases in lip licking, HR, and max OST. A significant decrease in attempts to jump off the examination table (p=0.002) was observed during the examination in the "contact" compared to the "non-contact" condition. In addition, interactions of owners showed an attenuating effect on HR (p=0.018) and max OST (p=0.011) in their dogs. The testing order (first vs. second visit) had no impact on behavioral and physiological parameters, suggesting that dogs did not habituate or sensitize to the examination procedure. Moreover, the duration of the owner-dog interactions had no significant impact on the behavioral and physiological responses of their dogs. This study demonstrates that owner-dog interactions improve the well-being of dogs during a veterinary examination. Future research may assist in further understanding the mechanisms associated with reducing stress in dogs in similar settings.
- Published
- 2017
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