There is growing interest in the value of assistance dogs, therapy dogs, and untrained pet dogs, ... more There is growing interest in the value of assistance dogs, therapy dogs, and untrained pet dogs, for supporting children with specific needs. Research in this area focuses almost exclusively on the effect of dogs on child well-being and quality of life. The lack of research reporting the role of dog quality of life in this dynamic limits the development of best practice guidelines. Little attention has been paid to the risk from structured and unstructured exposures to children for dog quality of life to best protect the well-being of both parties and maximize the quality of interactions to enhance therapeutic effects. This systematic scoping review searched five databases to address the question 'what is the risk from child-dog interactions to the quality of life of assistance, therapy and pet dogs?' The review identified that there is limited specific scientific investment in understanding the relationship between child-dog interactions and dog quality of life. Of the five relevant articles that were identified specifically addressing this issue, two looked at aspects relating to quality of life of dogs living in family homes, (1=pet dogs, 1=trained assistance dogs). The remaining three papers reported factors relevant to quality of life of trained dogs working in structured therapy sessions. Specific child-dog interactions may be important risk factors to consider in relation to dog quality of life, specifically interactions involving unprovoked child attention (e.g., rough contact), interactions and environmental predictability (e.g., meltdowns and recreation time) and child initiated games (e.g., 'dress up'). Identifying and monitoring the intensity and frequency of these interactions may be important for protecting dog quality of life in the therapeutic and home environment.
THE American Veterinary Medical Association has suggested that 15 per cent of clients are lost to... more THE American Veterinary Medical Association has suggested that 15 per cent of clients are lost to a practice due to unresolved behavioural problems in their animals. It is therefore important that the general practitioner appreciates the basics of animal behaviour and its effective management. Noise fears and phobias are among the most common behavioural problems, but are frequently left untreated or ineffectively managed. In both humans and dogs, it seems that the treatment of fears and phobias is often left until they have developed into multiple problems. This further compromises an animal's welfare and also limits the prognosis. Early identification and intervention is essential and screening for these and other common behavioural problems should form part of an annual health check. Expertise in behaviour is not a prerequisite for this — simply asking an owner whether their animal has developed any fears or problem behaviours in the past year, and having appropriate procedur...
7. The executive summary must not exceed 2 sides in total of A4 and should be understandable to t... more 7. The executive summary must not exceed 2 sides in total of A4 and should be understandable to the intelligent non-scientist. It should cover the main objectives, methods and findings of the research, together with any other significant events and options for new work. The project had a single aim, namely to assess the impact of use of remote static pulse electric training aids (ecollars) during the training of dogs in comparison to dogs referred for similar behavioural problems but without ecollar training. The specific objective was to use appropriate behavioural and physiological measures to make inferences about the welfare of subjects including their aversion and anxiety during and following training. A secondary objective was to evaluate the efficacy of treatment and possible explanations for any differences between treatment groups. These included owner assessment of severity of problem, population characteristics, trainer factors and temperament of dogs. The study design was developed following consultation with trainers to ensure a protocol that was representative of advised best practice in use of e-collars. Adult dogs (n=63) undergoing training by professional trainers were recruited to investigate the welfare consequences of behavioural modification incorporating e-collars, in comparison to positive reward based training. Dogs had been referred for problems commonly addressed using e-collars (recall problems and livestock/wildlife worrying) and were divided into three populations; one using e-collars and two control populations where dogs were not exposed to e-collars. Treatment groups were defined as follows Group A: E-collar group (N = 21) ECMA recommended trainers with experience of use of e-collars, using ecollars as part of their training programme. Group B: Control 1 (N = 21) ECMA recommended trainers with experience of use of e-collars, not using e-collars as part of their training programme. Group C: Control 2 (N = 21) APDT affiliated trainers who do not normally use e-collars in training, not using ecollars as part of their training programme. Methods Behavioural and physiological data that can be related to a dog"s emotional state were collected to assess immediate impact of exposure to e-collar stimulus in comparison to the control groups, as well as adaptation during training procedures. This included field observations of behaviour, cortisol samples from saliva and urine, judgement bias tests and questionnaires relating to impulsivity and temperament. Pre-training data were collected to assess if there were significant differences in treatment groups prior to training and follow up assessments were conducted 3 months post training to assess longer term welfare consequences of training methods and their efficacy. Dogs were allocated to treatment groups to control for the nature of referred problem and owner assessment of severity. During training, data were collected over a period of up to 5 days covering the period of initial behaviour modification. For Group A, dogs" training regimes followed recommended practice for resolving the problem under referral as advised by e-collar manufacturers. Trainers used e-collars with a variable intensity setting and a prewarning cue which, with time, would allow dogs to modify their behaviour to avoid exposure to the e-collar stimulus. Dogs in this group had the working level of e-stimulus determined on day 1 of training. On subsequent days non-compliance with tasks was associated with exposure to e-stimulus. The pre-warning stimulus was used to predict potential application of e-stimulus if the dog did not respond appropriately. Dogs in this group also received positive reinforcement such as food, play or praise for compliance. Dogs in control groups B and C followed training regimes without exposure to e-collar stimulation. Dogs in these groups wore a dummy collar (deactivated e-collar) to control for collar wearing and ensure observers of video tapes were blind to treatment. On the final training day, dog owners conducted the training under instruction from the trainers. Following completion of training, owners were surveyed for their assessment of the ease and efficacy of the training programme. At three months post-training, owners returned to the training centres and took dogs through a series of training commands including the recall command that they had been trained to follow. Dogs" behaviour was video recorded and saliva samples taken on first arrival and following training with and without a deactivated collar. Results There were no differences in the reasons for referral between dogs in the three groups or their owner"s assessment of the severity of the referred problem. Data collected prior to training days found no differences between the treatment groups in dog"s performance in cognitive bias tasks or in their temperament and impulsivity scores. There were no day effects on behaviour except more owner directed behaviour on final day of training. Dogs in groups A and B spent roughly half of their time walking during training, whilst dogs in group C spent more time standing and spent less time sitting during the training sessions than dogs from groups A and B. Group C dogs also showed more food related lip licking than the other treatment groups. Dogs in group C engaged in more environmental interaction such as sniffing, than dogs from Groups A and B and were less often observed yawning than Group A dogs. These treatment effects were found to be significant following Holm-Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Dogs in group C may have spent less time tense during training sessions (4% of scans) than dogs in groups A (25%). Dogs from group C may have had their tail in a low position
False negatives are recorded in every chemical detection system, but when animals are used as a s... more False negatives are recorded in every chemical detection system, but when animals are used as a scent detector, some false negatives can arise as a result of a failure in the link between detection and the trained alert response, or a failure of the handler to identify the positive alert. A false negative response can be critical in certain scenarios, such as searching for a live person or detecting explosives. In this study, we investigated whether the nature of sniffing behavior in trained detection dogs during a controlled scent-detection task differs in response to true positives, true negatives, false positives, and false negatives. A total of 200 videos of 10 working detection dogs were pseudorandomly selected and analyzed frame by frame to quantify sniffing duration and the number of sniffing episodes recorded in a Go/No-Go single scent-detection task using an eight-choice test apparatus. We found that the sniffing duration of true negatives is significantly shorter than fals...
Dogs were initially trained to respond reliably to 'sit' and 'come' commands, when these were iss... more Dogs were initially trained to respond reliably to 'sit' and 'come' commands, when these were issued randomly in a variety of contexts. Then in a first experiment, the posture of the person giving the command, eye contact and the mode of delivery of the command were varied. Performance declined significantly when a tape-recorded version of the command was used and when the eyes of the experimental trainer were obscured with sunglasses when using the tape, but not when the sunglasses were used with the oral command. In a second experiment, the distance and position of the experimental trainer relative to an opaque screen were changed. Performance declined when the experimental trainer stood approximately 2.5 m away and was partially obscured by a screen. Response to the sit but not come command declined when the experimental trainer turned her back on the dog prior to issuing the command at this distance, but not when the experimental trainer subsequently stood behind the screen at this distance. The results suggest that non-verbal features moderate responsiveness to the command, and that this effect may depend partly on the dog's familiarity with the command possibly within a given context and the perceived proximity of the commander from the dog.
Communication is an essential component of the translation of learning theory into the practical ... more Communication is an essential component of the translation of learning theory into the practical control of the behaviour of dogs. A handler sends a signal (e.g. a command), to which their dog responds. This response is dependent on the dog's perception of the signal rather than the intention of the sender. Previous research has shown that a dog's response can be influenced by specific changes in the verbal and non-verbal qualities of signals (i.e. the commands) used, but there has been little scientific evaluation of what happens in practice. Therefore in a first study, 56 dog handlers were videotaped giving their dogs a "sit" command and the significance of verbal and non-verbal factors on response was analyzed. Two factors were associated with a significant decrease in obedience: the dog's attention to its handler and the handler giving additional verbal information preceding the actual verbal command. Based on these results, a second more controlled study was run with 12 dogs that were trained to a new ("uff", i.e. jumping onto a raised surface) and a known ("sit", "down" or "paw") command. Once trained to predefined criteria, dogs were tested for their responsiveness with each of three additional types of verbal information preceding the command: the dog's name, the dog's name followed by a pause of 2 seconds and a "novel word", i.e. a word with no established relationships in this context ("Banane"). The results suggest that the addition of the novel word significantly reduced response to both the known (p = 0.014) and the new (p = 0.014) commands. The name plus a pause preceding the command significantly reduced the response to the new command (p = 0.043), but not the known one. The use of the name before the command without a pause had no significant effect on performance. The dogs' ability to generalize learned commands from the training context to a new context was tested by going through the same procedure in an unfamiliar environment. There was a significant reduction in correct responses only to the new command independent of the preceding verbal information (name (p = 0.028), name plus pause (p = 0.022) and novel word (p = 0.011)). This suggests that dogs may have more difficulties generalizing a less well-established command than an already known command.
There is growing interest in the value of assistance dogs, therapy dogs, and untrained pet dogs, ... more There is growing interest in the value of assistance dogs, therapy dogs, and untrained pet dogs, for supporting children with specific needs. Research in this area focuses almost exclusively on the effect of dogs on child well-being and quality of life. The lack of research reporting the role of dog quality of life in this dynamic limits the development of best practice guidelines. Little attention has been paid to the risk from structured and unstructured exposures to children for dog quality of life to best protect the well-being of both parties and maximize the quality of interactions to enhance therapeutic effects. This systematic scoping review searched five databases to address the question 'what is the risk from child-dog interactions to the quality of life of assistance, therapy and pet dogs?' The review identified that there is limited specific scientific investment in understanding the relationship between child-dog interactions and dog quality of life. Of the five relevant articles that were identified specifically addressing this issue, two looked at aspects relating to quality of life of dogs living in family homes, (1=pet dogs, 1=trained assistance dogs). The remaining three papers reported factors relevant to quality of life of trained dogs working in structured therapy sessions. Specific child-dog interactions may be important risk factors to consider in relation to dog quality of life, specifically interactions involving unprovoked child attention (e.g., rough contact), interactions and environmental predictability (e.g., meltdowns and recreation time) and child initiated games (e.g., 'dress up'). Identifying and monitoring the intensity and frequency of these interactions may be important for protecting dog quality of life in the therapeutic and home environment.
THE American Veterinary Medical Association has suggested that 15 per cent of clients are lost to... more THE American Veterinary Medical Association has suggested that 15 per cent of clients are lost to a practice due to unresolved behavioural problems in their animals. It is therefore important that the general practitioner appreciates the basics of animal behaviour and its effective management. Noise fears and phobias are among the most common behavioural problems, but are frequently left untreated or ineffectively managed. In both humans and dogs, it seems that the treatment of fears and phobias is often left until they have developed into multiple problems. This further compromises an animal's welfare and also limits the prognosis. Early identification and intervention is essential and screening for these and other common behavioural problems should form part of an annual health check. Expertise in behaviour is not a prerequisite for this — simply asking an owner whether their animal has developed any fears or problem behaviours in the past year, and having appropriate procedur...
7. The executive summary must not exceed 2 sides in total of A4 and should be understandable to t... more 7. The executive summary must not exceed 2 sides in total of A4 and should be understandable to the intelligent non-scientist. It should cover the main objectives, methods and findings of the research, together with any other significant events and options for new work. The project had a single aim, namely to assess the impact of use of remote static pulse electric training aids (ecollars) during the training of dogs in comparison to dogs referred for similar behavioural problems but without ecollar training. The specific objective was to use appropriate behavioural and physiological measures to make inferences about the welfare of subjects including their aversion and anxiety during and following training. A secondary objective was to evaluate the efficacy of treatment and possible explanations for any differences between treatment groups. These included owner assessment of severity of problem, population characteristics, trainer factors and temperament of dogs. The study design was developed following consultation with trainers to ensure a protocol that was representative of advised best practice in use of e-collars. Adult dogs (n=63) undergoing training by professional trainers were recruited to investigate the welfare consequences of behavioural modification incorporating e-collars, in comparison to positive reward based training. Dogs had been referred for problems commonly addressed using e-collars (recall problems and livestock/wildlife worrying) and were divided into three populations; one using e-collars and two control populations where dogs were not exposed to e-collars. Treatment groups were defined as follows Group A: E-collar group (N = 21) ECMA recommended trainers with experience of use of e-collars, using ecollars as part of their training programme. Group B: Control 1 (N = 21) ECMA recommended trainers with experience of use of e-collars, not using e-collars as part of their training programme. Group C: Control 2 (N = 21) APDT affiliated trainers who do not normally use e-collars in training, not using ecollars as part of their training programme. Methods Behavioural and physiological data that can be related to a dog"s emotional state were collected to assess immediate impact of exposure to e-collar stimulus in comparison to the control groups, as well as adaptation during training procedures. This included field observations of behaviour, cortisol samples from saliva and urine, judgement bias tests and questionnaires relating to impulsivity and temperament. Pre-training data were collected to assess if there were significant differences in treatment groups prior to training and follow up assessments were conducted 3 months post training to assess longer term welfare consequences of training methods and their efficacy. Dogs were allocated to treatment groups to control for the nature of referred problem and owner assessment of severity. During training, data were collected over a period of up to 5 days covering the period of initial behaviour modification. For Group A, dogs" training regimes followed recommended practice for resolving the problem under referral as advised by e-collar manufacturers. Trainers used e-collars with a variable intensity setting and a prewarning cue which, with time, would allow dogs to modify their behaviour to avoid exposure to the e-collar stimulus. Dogs in this group had the working level of e-stimulus determined on day 1 of training. On subsequent days non-compliance with tasks was associated with exposure to e-stimulus. The pre-warning stimulus was used to predict potential application of e-stimulus if the dog did not respond appropriately. Dogs in this group also received positive reinforcement such as food, play or praise for compliance. Dogs in control groups B and C followed training regimes without exposure to e-collar stimulation. Dogs in these groups wore a dummy collar (deactivated e-collar) to control for collar wearing and ensure observers of video tapes were blind to treatment. On the final training day, dog owners conducted the training under instruction from the trainers. Following completion of training, owners were surveyed for their assessment of the ease and efficacy of the training programme. At three months post-training, owners returned to the training centres and took dogs through a series of training commands including the recall command that they had been trained to follow. Dogs" behaviour was video recorded and saliva samples taken on first arrival and following training with and without a deactivated collar. Results There were no differences in the reasons for referral between dogs in the three groups or their owner"s assessment of the severity of the referred problem. Data collected prior to training days found no differences between the treatment groups in dog"s performance in cognitive bias tasks or in their temperament and impulsivity scores. There were no day effects on behaviour except more owner directed behaviour on final day of training. Dogs in groups A and B spent roughly half of their time walking during training, whilst dogs in group C spent more time standing and spent less time sitting during the training sessions than dogs from groups A and B. Group C dogs also showed more food related lip licking than the other treatment groups. Dogs in group C engaged in more environmental interaction such as sniffing, than dogs from Groups A and B and were less often observed yawning than Group A dogs. These treatment effects were found to be significant following Holm-Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Dogs in group C may have spent less time tense during training sessions (4% of scans) than dogs in groups A (25%). Dogs from group C may have had their tail in a low position
False negatives are recorded in every chemical detection system, but when animals are used as a s... more False negatives are recorded in every chemical detection system, but when animals are used as a scent detector, some false negatives can arise as a result of a failure in the link between detection and the trained alert response, or a failure of the handler to identify the positive alert. A false negative response can be critical in certain scenarios, such as searching for a live person or detecting explosives. In this study, we investigated whether the nature of sniffing behavior in trained detection dogs during a controlled scent-detection task differs in response to true positives, true negatives, false positives, and false negatives. A total of 200 videos of 10 working detection dogs were pseudorandomly selected and analyzed frame by frame to quantify sniffing duration and the number of sniffing episodes recorded in a Go/No-Go single scent-detection task using an eight-choice test apparatus. We found that the sniffing duration of true negatives is significantly shorter than fals...
Dogs were initially trained to respond reliably to 'sit' and 'come' commands, when these were iss... more Dogs were initially trained to respond reliably to 'sit' and 'come' commands, when these were issued randomly in a variety of contexts. Then in a first experiment, the posture of the person giving the command, eye contact and the mode of delivery of the command were varied. Performance declined significantly when a tape-recorded version of the command was used and when the eyes of the experimental trainer were obscured with sunglasses when using the tape, but not when the sunglasses were used with the oral command. In a second experiment, the distance and position of the experimental trainer relative to an opaque screen were changed. Performance declined when the experimental trainer stood approximately 2.5 m away and was partially obscured by a screen. Response to the sit but not come command declined when the experimental trainer turned her back on the dog prior to issuing the command at this distance, but not when the experimental trainer subsequently stood behind the screen at this distance. The results suggest that non-verbal features moderate responsiveness to the command, and that this effect may depend partly on the dog's familiarity with the command possibly within a given context and the perceived proximity of the commander from the dog.
Communication is an essential component of the translation of learning theory into the practical ... more Communication is an essential component of the translation of learning theory into the practical control of the behaviour of dogs. A handler sends a signal (e.g. a command), to which their dog responds. This response is dependent on the dog's perception of the signal rather than the intention of the sender. Previous research has shown that a dog's response can be influenced by specific changes in the verbal and non-verbal qualities of signals (i.e. the commands) used, but there has been little scientific evaluation of what happens in practice. Therefore in a first study, 56 dog handlers were videotaped giving their dogs a "sit" command and the significance of verbal and non-verbal factors on response was analyzed. Two factors were associated with a significant decrease in obedience: the dog's attention to its handler and the handler giving additional verbal information preceding the actual verbal command. Based on these results, a second more controlled study was run with 12 dogs that were trained to a new ("uff", i.e. jumping onto a raised surface) and a known ("sit", "down" or "paw") command. Once trained to predefined criteria, dogs were tested for their responsiveness with each of three additional types of verbal information preceding the command: the dog's name, the dog's name followed by a pause of 2 seconds and a "novel word", i.e. a word with no established relationships in this context ("Banane"). The results suggest that the addition of the novel word significantly reduced response to both the known (p = 0.014) and the new (p = 0.014) commands. The name plus a pause preceding the command significantly reduced the response to the new command (p = 0.043), but not the known one. The use of the name before the command without a pause had no significant effect on performance. The dogs' ability to generalize learned commands from the training context to a new context was tested by going through the same procedure in an unfamiliar environment. There was a significant reduction in correct responses only to the new command independent of the preceding verbal information (name (p = 0.028), name plus pause (p = 0.022) and novel word (p = 0.011)). This suggests that dogs may have more difficulties generalizing a less well-established command than an already known command.
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