Correlates of pen size and housing conditions on the behaviour of kennelled dogs

Critical evaluation of the use of dogs in biomedical research and testing in Europe

“…Research on carnivores shows that those with large ranges tend to fare worse in captivity (Clubb and Mason, 2003;Hubrecht et al, 1992). Minimum space allowances set down in codes of practice or legislation tend to be relatively small (tab.…”

Factors determining the effects of human interaction on the cortisol levels of shelter dogs

“…It has been suggested that social isolation is the most stressful factor in a kennel environment (Hubrecht et al, 1992). Dogs housed in a shelter avidly seek contact with an unfamiliar person (Gácsi et al, 2001;Pullen et al, 2012), and separation behaviors such as barking and whining are reduced in the presence of a stranger (Prato-Previde et al, 2003).…”

Effects of group size and space allocation on physiological, behavioural and production-related welfare parameters in farmed silver fox cubs

“…As the amount of space available increases, the activity level of the animals has either increased (dog: Hetts et al 1992), remained constant (raccoon dog: Korhonen and Harri 1988), or decreased (dog: Hughes et al 1989). Increasing the number of animals within a housing unit, which usually means also increasing the total available area for the members of the group, has typically increased the activity level of the animals (dog: Hubrecht et al 1992;silver fox: Bakken et al 1994, Ahola et al 2000, but see dog: Hetts et al 1992). In the present study, neither increasing space allocation (0.6 m 2 vs. 1.2 m 2 ) nor increasing the number of animals within a housing unit (one vs. two vs. four) evoked any differences in activity levels of the animals.…”

“…The social environment an animal lives in, in contrast, has been found to have effects on the incidence of stereotyped behaviour. Dogs in social isolation exhibited the greatest number of bizarre movements (Hetts et al 1992) and spent considerably more time in repetitive behaviour (Hubrecht et al 1992). When dogs were transferred from group conditions into smaller, individual housing systems they showed lower postures, signs of repetitive behaviour and autogrooming (Beerda et al 1999).…”