Fear of loud noises is a common welfare problem in pet dogs. Commercial treatment vests have been tested on dogs to relieve noise phobia, and peripheral oxytocin has been suggested to be one of the stressrelieving mediators. The effect of vests has not, however, been tested in a controlled situation. We tested whether individually customized vests, have an effect on behaviour of severely noise phobic dogs in a double-blinded experiment, where dogs are exposed to loud noises. We also investigated the possible effect of pressure by using two types of vests; a deep pressure vest (DEEP, c. 10-12 mmHg) and a light pressure vest (LIGHT, c. 2-3 mmHg). In addition to behaviour, we studied if the pressure vest has an effect on urine oxytocin level and on saliva cortisol levels. A total of 28 dogs (2-11 years), both female (18) and male (10), were recruited via an ongoing study on the genetic background of noise sensitivity by the Finnish Canine Genetic Research Group. Each dog was tested three times either without vest (CONTROL) or with DEEP or LIGHT vests in a semi-randomized order. The dogsí behaviour was video recorded for 6 min, including three 2 min intervals: pre-noise, noise (70-73 dB firework sound) and recovery. Behavioural parameters included activity, body and tail postures, vocalization, and time spent near owner. Saliva samples were collected twice before and twice after the noise test. Urine samples for oxytocin analyses were collected when the deep pressure vest was first fitted: before dressing the dog and 30 min later. The DEEP vest reduced the lying time of the dogs during the noise interval. During the noise interval total lying time with any vest correlated positively with saliva cortisol, measured after noise interval, indicating that the increased lying time was a sign of a higher stress level in the dogs. Wearing either vests increased the time the dogs spent near their owners during noise interval. Time spent near the owner when wearing the DEEP vest during the recovery interval correlated positively with the urine oxytocin. These results indicate oxytocin might be related to the dogís tendency to seek owner support and the vests might effect this behaviour positively. We did not find a clear therapeutic effect of using pressure vests in noise phobic dogs. However, our results indicate the pressure vest might reduce the acute stress reaction and speed up the recovery after stress.

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There are very few studies on the need to perform exploratory behaviour of sows around farrowing and during lactation, except for during the nest-building period. Exploratory behaviour in pigs may reflect appetitive foraging motivated by hunger, or appetitive behaviour related to other motivations, such as nest building. However, exploration may also be motivated by curiosity, during the period of study. Although all sows used the MCO, the use was very low throughout the study (below g per day on average), and almost non-existent during the first weeks after farrowing. The latency to touch the object in the NO test was correlated between test days before and after farrowing, while the sow showed more interest in the object before than after farrowing. MCO use during the last week of lactation was higher in sows with a lower weight after weaning, suggesting a link between explorative motivation and energy status in the sow. These results indicate a need for further studies on how to best meet the possible exploratory need of sows during their time in the farrowing room.

This study was funded by the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland. Competing interests: None declared.

In reproductive physiology research, experimental animals are often subjected to stressful procedures, including blood sampling and biopsy. In this present study, presence of pain or distress induced by four different procedures was examined using a measurement of salivary cortisol levels and activity observations in sows. The treatments were: 1) PAL: The ovary was palpated through the rectum without snaring, 2) TUB: transvaginal ultrasound-guided biopsy of the ovary was conducted without snaring, 3) SNA: a soft rope snare was placed around the maxilla, 4) CAT: A soft rope snare was placed around the maxilla, and an intravenous catheter was inserted through the ear vein of the sows. Activities, social cohesion and other pain-related behaviour, and salivary cortisol concentrations were recorded. Salivary cortisol concentrations in CAT sows increased in response to the procedure (P<0.05), whereas the other treatments did not trigger a significant response. The CAT sows had higher cortisol concentrations than the other groups for 10min after initiation of the procedures (P<0.01), and they maintained higher cortisol levels than the PAL and TUB groups 15min post-treatment (P<0.05). Furthermore, the CAT sows showed the highest frequency of head shaking (P<0.001) and trembling behaviour (P<0.05) during the 1h post-treatment. Summarizing, the catheterization procedure might induce a short-term pain or stress response during and after the procedure in terms of pain-related behaviour and salivary cortisol status. We suggest that TUB might not cause appreciable pain or distress.