What can we learn from the hair of the dog? Complex effects of endogenous and exogenous stressors on canine hair cortisol

Packer, Rowena M. A.; Davies, Alexander M.; Volk, Holger A.; Puckett, Holly L.; Hobbs, Sarah L.; Fowkes, Robert C.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0216000

Cited by 16 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Dog personalities related to aggression where the only traits that had an effect on dog HCC in this study, were the ancient breeds and hunting breeds showed similar scores for most traits. Interestingly, social and non-social fear traits have recently been shown to correlate negatively with HCC in border collies 18 , suggesting that stress-related personality traits such as fear and aggression influence dog HCC.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term stress in dogs is related to the human–dog relationship and personality traits

Höglin

Poucke

Katajamaa

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Previously, we found that dogs belonging to the herding breed group, selected for human cooperation, synchronise their long-term stress levels with their owners. The aim of the current study was to investigate features that could influence long-term stress levels in ancient dog breeds, genetically closer to wolves, and dogs specifically selected to work independently of their owner. Twenty-four ancient breed dogs and 18 solitary hunting dogs were recruited and hair samples were obtained from both dogs and owners from which hair cortisol concentration (HCC) was analysed. Additionally, the owners completed lifestyle surveys, the Monash Dog Owner Relationship Scale (MDORS) on human–dog relationship, and both dog and owner personality questionnaires (Dog Personality questionnaire and Big Five Inventory survey). The results from the MDORS indicate that the subscale Perceived cost correlated to the dog HCC of tested breed groups: solitary hunting breeds (χ2 = 4.95, P = 0.026, β = 0.055), ancient breeds (χ2 = 2.74, P = 0.098, β = 0.027), and herding dogs included from a previous study (χ2 = 6.82, P = 0.009, β = − 0.061). The HCC of the solitary hunting dogs was also related to the owner personality traits Agreeableness (χ2 = 12.30, P < 0.001, β = − 0.060) and Openness (χ2 = 9.56, P = 0.002, β = 0.048) suggesting a more substantial influence of the owner on the solitary hunting dog’s HCC compared to the ancient breeds. No effect of owner HCC on dog HCC was found in either ancient or in solitary hunting breeds. Hence, the long-term stress synchronisation is likely to be a trait in breeds selected for human cooperation. In conclusion, dog HCC is often related to the owners’ personality, but is primarily influenced by the owner-dog relationship.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term stress in dogs is related to the human–dog relationship and personality traits

Höglin

Poucke

Katajamaa

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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“…The use of behavioral management of epilepsy is a commonplace in human epilepsy, including trigger management, stress‐reduction therapies, and specific relaxation‐based therapies, and have been suggested as a novel addition to the epilepsy management tool kit in dogs 64 . With seizure triggers 5,65 and chronic stress 66 increasingly recognized in dogs, devising evidence‐based behavioral interventions and conducting high‐quality clinical trials to test their efficacy is of priority. Surgery is the treatment of choice in human epilepsy, particularly in cases with a well‐defined focal onset where at least 2 ASDs have failed to provide control.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research priorities for idiopathic epilepsy in dogs: Viewpoints of owners, general practice veterinarians, and neurology specialists

Jones

Volk

Packer

2021

Veterinary Internal Medicne

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Background: Epilepsy is the most common chronic neurological disease in dogs that adversely affects the quality of life (QoL) of affected dogs and their owners. Research on epilepsy in dogs is expanding internationally, but where best to focus limited research time, funds, and expertise to achieve better outcomes for affected dogs and their owners has not been studied. Objective: To explore idiopathic epilepsy (IE) research priorities of owners of dogs with IE, general practice veterinarians, and veterinary neurologists. Methods: An international online survey was conducted in 2016 and repeated in 2020. Participants rated the absolute importance and relative rank of 18 areas of IE research, which were compared between groups and time points. Results: Valid responses were received from 414 respondents in 2016 and 414 respondents in 2020. The development of new anti-seizure drugs (ASD) and improving the existing ASD management were considered the most important research priorities. Areas of research with increasing priority between 2016 and 2020 included non-ASD management, with the greatest potential seen in behavioral and dietary-based interventions. Disagreements in priorities were identified between groups; owners prioritized issues that impacted their and their dog's QoL, for example, adverse effects and comorbidities, whereas general practitioner vets and neurologists prioritized clinical issues and longer-term strategies to manage or prevent IE, respectively.Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Ensuring that voices of owners are heard in the planning of future research should be a broader goal of veterinary medicine, to target research efforts toward areas most likely to improve the QoL of the dog-owner dyad.

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“…However, epilepsy could nonetheless induce negative short-term affective states (e.g. immediately post-ictal negative emotions), and in light of previous evidence demonstrating negative effects of epilepsy upon owner-reported quality of life (not limited to the post-ictal period) 54 , chronic changes to stress physiology indicative of hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis dysregulation 55 and co-morbid affective disorders in the inter-ictal period (e.g. anxiety) 18 , this is an unexpected finding.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of canine epilepsy on judgement and attention biases

Hobbs

Law

Volk

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Idiopathic epilepsy (IE) is the most common chronic neurological condition in dogs, characterised by recurrent seizure activity and associated with negative behavioural and cognitive changes. We hypothesised that IE would negatively impact putative affective state, with dogs with IE exhibiting a more pessimistic judgement bias and more negative attention bias than controls. Dogs were tested in a previously-validated spatial judgement bias task, and a novel auditory attention bias task testing attention to sounds with different valence or salience (neutral, novel pre-habituated, threatening). Sixty-eight dogs (IE = 33, Control = 35) were tested, of which n = 37 acquired the spatial discrimination and responses to judgement bias probes were tested (IE = 19, Control = 18), and n = 36 were tested for responses to sounds (IE = 20, Control = 16). Study groups did not significantly differ by age, sex, breed or neuter-status (p > 0.05). Main effects of study group were not significant in judgement bias (F1,102 = 0.20, p = 0.658) or attention bias tasks (F3,102 = 1.64, p = 0.184). In contrast with our hypotheses, there was no evidence that IE altered cognitive biases in this study population; however, dogs with IE were significantly more likely to be unable to learn the spatial discrimination task (p = 0.019), which may reflect IE-related cognitive deficits. Developing methods to test affective state without excluding cognitively impaired individuals is a future challenge for animal welfare science.

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What can we learn from the hair of the dog? Complex effects of endogenous and exogenous stressors on canine hair cortisol

Cited by 16 publications

References 42 publications

Long-term stress in dogs is related to the human–dog relationship and personality traits

Long-term stress in dogs is related to the human–dog relationship and personality traits

Research priorities for idiopathic epilepsy in dogs: Viewpoints of owners, general practice veterinarians, and neurology specialists

Impact of canine epilepsy on judgement and attention biases

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