Assessing fear of novel and startling stimuli in domestic dogs

Ley, Jacqueline; Coleman, Grahame J; Holmes, R.; Hemsworth, P.H.

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2006.03.021

Cited by 28 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…For these reasons, we considered the variables that featured high on the first factor as important variables that featured high on the third factor in relation to boldness, and, conversely, of the variables that featured high on the second factor; thus, we wanted to create a (weighted) index that combined the three factors, providing a broader personality dimension. Such an index allowed us to assess dog personality along the boldness-shyness axis, in accordance with the literature (see for example [ 29 , 35 , 42 – 45 ]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Bold personality makes domestic dogs entering a shelter less vulnerable to diseases

et al. 2018

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It is widely recognised that for vertebrate species, personalities vary along an axis with extremes represented by ‘proactive’ and ‘reactive‘ individuals. The aim of this study was to verify whether there is a relationship between personality and disease vulnerability in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) exposed to an intensely stressful situation such as entering a shelter. Twenty-eight shelter dogs participated in the study. The ethogram consisted of approximately 100 behavioural patterns. Behavioural observations of dogs in their new environment, a Novel Object and a T-maze test were used to evaluate the personality of the dogs captured as strays and entering the shelter. A blood sample from each dog was obtained at admission into the shelter and after a month to evaluate their immunological state. Based on PCA analyses of observational combined with experimental data, the dogs were ordered along the boldness-shyness axis, with the first being the boldest. Excluding one (the 6th), the first 10 dogs showed an improved health status: absence of disease symptoms during the 30 days of monitoring and improved immunological parameters; the opposite was found for shy dogs. The results of this research seem to confirm findings in other vertebrate species, i.e., bold and shy dog vulnerability to diseases might be different, especially when they must cope with a stressful and highly infectious environment such as a dog shelter.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Bold personality makes domestic dogs entering a shelter less vulnerable to diseases

et al. 2018

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“…Fear can be triggered by various stimuli, such as novel or intense stimuli, special evolutionary danger, social interactions with conspecifics, and conditioned stimuli [ 7 ]. Fear-based behavioral responses include aggressive behavior [ 8 , 9 ], avoidance responses [ 10 ], flight [ 11 ], withdrawal [ 12 ], and immobility (freezing or crouching) [ 13 , 14 ]. As fearful subjective states cannot be directly measured by self-report in dogs, the experience of fear is based on proxy measures of behavioral responses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic Variants in the STMN1 Transcriptional Regulatory Region Affect Promoter Activity and Fear Behavior in English Springer Spaniels

Xiao-lin

Zhang

et al. 2016

PLoS ONE

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Stathmin 1 (STMN1) is a neuronal growth-associated protein that is involved in microtubule dynamics and plays an important role in synaptic outgrowth and plasticity. Given that STMN1 affects fear behavior, we hypothesized that genetic variations in the STMN1 transcriptional regulatory region affect gene transcription activity and control fear behavior. In this study, two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), g. -327 and g. -125 , were identified in 317 English Springer Spaniels. A bioinformatics analysis revealed that both were loci located in the canine STMN1 putative promoter region and affected transcription factor binding. A statistical analysis revealed that the genotype at g.-125 produced a significantly greater fear level than that of the genotype (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the H4H4 () haplotype combination was significantly associated with canine fear behavior (P < 0.01). Using serially truncated constructs of the STMN1 promoters and the luciferase reporter, we found that a 395 bp (−312 nt to +83 nt) fragment constituted the core promoter region. The luciferase assay also revealed that the H4 () haplotype promoter had higher activity than that of other haplotypes. Overall, our results suggest that the two SNPs in the canine STMN1 promoter region could affect canine fear behavior by altering STMN1 transcriptional activity.

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“…Some indication of breed differences. Plutchik, 1971;King et al, 2003;Forkman et al, 2007;Ley et al, 2007 (continued on next page) Z. Polgár, et al Applied Animal Behaviour Science 213 (2019) Behaviours can persist even after animal has been removed from stressful environment.…”

Section: Chronicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Novel object tests are frequently used in both laboratory and farm animals to assess levels of fear and anxiety and they have also been suggested as useful methods to assess fear in dogs, although it is not included in either of the developed assessment tools (Barnard et al, 2014;Kiddie and Collins, 2014). Ley et al (2007) found that dogs that were given anxiolytic drugs (which reduce fear) were quicker to approach a novel object (a remote-controlled car) and spent more time in its vicinity, indicating that latency to approach a novel object is influenced by fear. King et al (2003) also used a remotecontrolled car as a novel object and found that dogs' responses were related with a variety of other measures of fear.…”

Section: Anxiety and Fear Related Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the welfare of kennelled dogs—A review of animal-based measures

Polgár

Blackwell

Rooney

2019

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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Hundreds of thousands of dogs are housed in kennels worldwide, yet there are no standard protocols for assessing the welfare of dogs in these environments. Animal science is focusing increasingly on the importance of animal-based measures for determining welfare states, and those measures that have been used with kennelled dogs are reviewed in this paper with particular focus on their validity and practicality. From a physiological standpoint, studies using cortisol, heart rate and heart rate variability, temperature changes, and immune function are discussed. Behavioural measures are also of great relevance when addressing canine welfare, thus studies on fear and anxiety behaviours, abnormal behaviours like stereotypies, as well as responses to strangers and novel objects are reviewed. Finally, a limited number of studies attempting to use cognitive bias and learning ability are also mentioned as cognitive measures. The literature to date provides a strong background for which measures may be useful in determining the welfare of kennelled canines, however more research is needed to further assess the value of using these methods, particularly in regard to the large degree of individual differences that exist between dogs.

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Assessing fear of novel and startling stimuli in domestic dogs

Cited by 28 publications

References 27 publications

Bold personality makes domestic dogs entering a shelter less vulnerable to diseases

Bold personality makes domestic dogs entering a shelter less vulnerable to diseases

Genetic Variants in the STMN1 Transcriptional Regulatory Region Affect Promoter Activity and Fear Behavior in English Springer Spaniels

Assessing the welfare of kennelled dogs—A review of animal-based measures

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