Dog owners' recognition of pain-related behavioral changes in their dogs

Demirtaş, Ahu; Atılgan, Durmuş; Saral, Begum; Isparta, Sevim; Öztürk, Hakan; Ozvardar, Tarkan; Demirbas, Yasemin Salgirli

doi:10.1016/j.jveb.2023.02.006

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…In one study, owners were questioned about their dog’s posture, activity, mobility and behavior and categorized as having chronic pain or not. Dogs presumed to have chronic pain were reported to display protective aggression toward certain body parts and show aggressive behavior toward strangers significantly more often than dogs without signs of chronic pain ( 23 ). These findings align with our results where aggression is displayed at higher frequency to both caregivers and strangers where there is evidence of chronic pain.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, caregiver reports regarding behavioral change are likely to be highly beneficial when assessing chronic pain in a dog. However, owners are reported to focus on movement-based behavior changes in their dogs and have difficulty associating behavioral changes with pain in the older dogs ( 23 ), while other studies have shown that when using structured chronic pain assessment tools, owner’s may not be able to identify behavioral changes associated with pain in their dogs ( 24 ). Additionally, there is also bias in veterinary assessments of pain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How does chronic pain impact the lives of dogs: an investigation of factors that are associated with pain using the Animal Welfare Assessment Grid

Malkani,

Paramasivam,

Wolfensohn

2024

Front. Vet. Sci.

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IntroductionChronic pain can profoundly affect the wellbeing of dogs and our understanding is limited regarding the multidimensional impact it has on dog quality of life. This study aimed to assess the factors that are significant and predictive of behavior problems in dogs using the Animal Welfare Assessment Grid (AWAG) to further understand what factors influence their welfare.MethodsSeventy six AWAG assessments were undertaken across 46 dogs that clinicians diagnosed as having musculoskeletal conditions that caused chronic pain. Wilcoxon-rank sum tests were used to assess the difference in scores between dogs with behavior disorders and a cohort of healthy dogs (n = 143).ResultsAll physical factors besides body condition, and all psychological, environmental, and procedural factors were significantly different between healthy dogs and dogs with chronic pain, evidencing how chronic pain impacts all domains of a dog’s life. Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient (RS) revealed several significant strong positive correlations such as the association between the severity of clinical symptoms with poorer mobility and the frequency at which the dog experienced fearful stimuli. Logistic regression showed that fears and anxieties frequency, the dog’s reaction to stressors, engagement with enrichment, and social interactions were significant predictors of chronic pain in dogs.DiscussionThis highlights that typical signs of musculoskeletal disorders such as gait changes, stiffness, lameness might manifest after behavioral changes such as increased fearfulness, prolonged recovery from a stressful event, a reduced interested in social interactions, toys or play. Owners only seeking veterinary attention when the presence of physical signs of disease are evident may result in a delayed veterinary attention resulting in reduced welfare. Regular veterinary assessments combined with use of the AWAG can proactively identify these behavioral indicators and result in prompt treatment and improved quality of life.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%