A placebo-controlled study to investigate the effect of Dog Appeasing Pheromone and other environmental and management factors on the reports of disturbance and house soiling during the night in recently adopted puppies (Canis familiaris)

Abstract

Disturbance and house soiling during the night are common problems faced by the new puppy dog owner. They may result as consequence of a mismatch between the developmental status of the puppy and its new environment and/or separation distress in a typically social animal. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of Dog Appeasing Pheromone (DAP, Ceva Santé Animale) as well as a range of other management and environmental factors that might affect this process. It has been suggested that DAP may help the puppy settle into the new home by continuing the provision of the maternal appeasing pheromone. In order to test this, a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of DAP was conducted with 60 pedigree puppies, aged between 6 and 10 weeks, as they entered their new home. A few days prior to the puppy's arrival, volunteer owners were supplied with either a verum or placebo plug-in diffuser designed for the slow release of the pheromone analogue over 4 weeks. Owners reported daily on disturbance and house soiling during the previous night over the following 8 weeks from the puppy's first night in the new home. The effect of the treatment together with the gender of the puppy, its maternal environment, the use of a puppy crate, sleeping with other dogs at night and the experience of the owner were included in a general linear model to explain the total number of nights spent disturbing and house soiling. Sleeping with another dog reduced the puppies' tendency to disturb at night to almost zero. Over 70% of puppies sleeping alone disturbed during the first night. The mean total number of nights of disturbance over the 2 months was between five and six nights, mostly in the first week in the home. A significant effect of DAP treatment was found in the case of the gundog breeds only ( p = 0.003), gundogs receiving placebo cried for a median of nine nights, those receiving verum cried for a median of three nights. No effect of DAP treatment was observed on the total number of nights that the puppy soiled the house ( p > 0.05). However, puppies that were placed in crates during the night ( p = 0.004) or had come from domestic maternal environments ( p = 0.006) had significantly fewer reports of house soiling over the first 2 months in the new home. #

Systematic review of the use of pheromones for treatment of undesirable behavior in cats and dogs

“…DAP-Of the 7 canine reports, 2 dealt with noise phobia treatment (fireworks) 24,25 and the other 5 dealt with stress-, fear-, or anxiety-related behaviors and the response to pheromone treatment (Table 2). 16,[26][27][28][29] Four reports 16,[27][28][29] were of placebo-controlled studies (grade B studies) that lacked a clear description of the treatment allocation concealment process. Two of these studies 27,29 had inadequate random allocation generation; the remaining 3 were case series.…”

“…In 2 studies, 26,29 the treatment was applied by means of a collar impregnated with DAP, and in another study, 24 the pheromone was dispensed in the environment by a plug-in diffuser (1 bottle for the diffuser). For 4 studies, 16,25,27,28 the method of pheromone dispensation was not specified. A diffuser was most likely used because collars were initially not available.…”

“…Length of pheromone treatment varied from 7 minutes to 8 weeks 16,24,[26][27][28][29] and was not reported for 1 study. 25 Follow-up (1 month, 3 to 5 months, or up to 12 months) was performed in only 3 studies.…”

“…25 Follow-up (1 month, 3 to 5 months, or up to 12 months) was performed in only 3 studies. 26,28,29 Additional pharmacological intervention (anxiolytic or sedative treatment) was permitted in 1 grade D study 24 (fear of fireworks), on an as-needed basis. Dog-appeasing pheromone was the only product used for 3 trials, 16,25,28 and no other product was mentioned for the other 3 studies.…”

Maternal behaviour in domestic dogs

“…After birth, puppies are exposed to particular pheromones secreted by the sebaceous glands located in mother intermammary sulcus, the area in between her breast where puppies detect them upon nursing. Because these pheromones provide calm, comfort and a sense of well-being to the puppies, they are called Dog Appeasing Pheromones (DAP) [46,51,52].…”