Effect of training for dog fear identification on dog owner ratings of fear in familiar and unfamiliar dogs

Flint, Hannah E.; Coe, Jason B.; Pearl, David L.; Serpell, James A.; Niel, Lee

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2018.08.002

Cited by 24 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Guardians that had never owned a dog previously were more likely to have dogs that exhibited higher fear responses. While over 25% of guardians are able to identify obvious signs of stress in dogs [63], Flint et al [64] suggest a lack of experience in dog behaviour or attendance at dog training classes is associated with guardians being less likely to identify fear correctly. This suggests a potential for fear to be under-reported in dogs with inexperienced guardians.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating risk factors that predict a dog’s fear during veterinary consultations

et al. 2019

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Attending the veterinary clinic is an integral part of the physical welfare of every companion dog. However, some dogs experience their veterinary visits negatively, which poses a risk of injury to the veterinary staff, their guardian (owner) and themselves. It may also influence the regularity of non-urgent veterinary appointments. To date there have been conflicting reports relating to the proportion of dogs that show fear during their veterinary visits. In this study, we explored the risk factors associated with fear during veterinary examination and in novel situations (including first time at the veterinary clinic) from 26,555 responses in the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire database. According to their guardians, 41% of companion dogs displayed mild to moderate fearful behaviour when examined by a veterinarian, and 14% exhibited severe or extreme fear. A similar trend was observed with dogs responding fearfully when in unfamiliar situations, including the dog’s first time at the veterinary clinic. Chi-squared tests showed every bivariate relationship between fear and the environmental and demographic factors measured was significant (p < 0.05). The most important predictors of fear in a veterinary examination were, in order: the dog’s breed group (27.1%), their history of roles or activities (16.7%), where they were sourced (15.2%), their weight (12%), the age of other dogs in the household (9.5%) and dog owner experience (6.3%). However, combined these risk factors only explain a total of 7% of variance of fear observed during veterinary examination. This suggests that fear exhibited during veterinary visits is common in dogs, but that the environment or human-animal interactions are likely to contribute more to prevalence and severity of this problem than the demographic factors measured here. We conclude by highlighting opportunities for future research aimed at facilitating less stressful veterinary visits for dogs and their guardians.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating risk factors that predict a dog’s fear during veterinary consultations

et al. 2019

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“…There are few studies on the ability of an assessment to reflect previous home behaviour; rather, most literature looks at predicting future behaviour [ 8 , 13 , 14 , 25 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ]. In this study, behaviour reported in the home showed a relationship with certain aspects of the behavioural assessment including fear, friendliness, anxiety, arousal and aggression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of Canine Behaviour Scored Using a Shelter Behaviour Assessment and an Owner Completed Questionnaire, C-BARQ

Clay

Paterson

Bennett

et al. 2020

Animals

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In shelters, it is usual to conduct a standardised behaviour assessment to identify adoption suitability. The information gathered from the assessment is used to identify the behaviour of the dogs, its suitability for adoption and to match the dog with an ideal home environment. However, numerous studies have demonstrated a lack of predictability in terms of the post-adoption behaviour in these assessments. We investigated if the owners’ perception of dogs’ behaviour in the home was reflected in the RSPCA Queensland behaviour assessment, conducted on the same dogs during a visit to the shelter. A total of 107 owners and their dogs aged 1–10 years were assessed in-home and in the shelter. The owners of the dogs completed a questionnaire (the Canine Behavioural Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ) survey) 1–2 weeks before bringing their dog to the shelter for the standardised behavioural assessment conducted at the RSPCA Queensland. An ordinal logistic regression analysis identified positive correlations for fear, arousal, friendliness and anxiousness, identified in in-home behaviour and the behaviour assessment. Furthermore, the behaviours of friendliness, fearfulness, arousal, anxiousness, and aggression were positively predictive between home behaviour and tests in the behaviour assessment. This research therefore led to a greater understanding of current canine behaviour assessment protocols used at the RSPCA Queensland in regard to the predictability of behaviour, behavioural problems and the efficiency, effectiveness and predictability of current behaviour testing procedures.

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“…While the C-BARQ is a validated questionnaire that clearly describes the behaviour of interest, it is still limited by measurement errors, including: conservative reporting (if guardians are predisposed to report on items like problem behaviours optimistically); guardian interpretation of the items or behaviours; guardians not noticing behaviour during previous veterinary visits, and; time since last veterinary visit. Further, the ability of guardians to accurately identify fear in their own dogs is questionable [9,50,51]. Indeed, while Flint et al [51] found training in recognising fear in dogs resulted in guardians being more likely to correctly identify mild/ moderate and high/extreme fear, they observed no corresponding change in reporting on the guardian's rating of their own dogs.…”

Section: Other Contributing Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further, the ability of guardians to accurately identify fear in their own dogs is questionable [9,50,51]. Indeed, while Flint et al [51] found training in recognising fear in dogs resulted in guardians being more likely to correctly identify mild/ moderate and high/extreme fear, they observed no corresponding change in reporting on the guardian's rating of their own dogs. Conversely, while the current study's sample size is large, it may reflect responses from guardians that actively seek to know more about their dog's behaviour, and so, may represent responses from those who are more aware of their dog's fear or body language.…”

Section: Other Contributing Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Guardians that had never owned a dog previously were more likely to have dogs that exhibited higher fear responses. While over 25% of guardians are able to identify obvious signs of stress in dogs [50], Flint et al [51] suggest a lack of experience in dog behaviour or attendance at dog training classes is associated with guardians being less likely to identify fear correctly. This suggests a potential for fear to be underreported in dogs with inexperienced guardians.…”

Section: Other Contributing Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigating risk factors that predict a dog’s fear during veterinary visits

Edwards

Hazel

Browne³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Attending the veterinary clinic is an integral part of the physical welfare of every companion dog. However, some dogs experience their veterinary visits negatively, which poses a risk of injury to the veterinary staff, their guardian (owner) and themselves during veterinary examinations. It may also influence the regularity of non-urgent veterinary appointments. To date there has been conflicting data on the proportion of dogs that are fearful during their veterinary visits. In this study, we explored the risk factors associated with fear during veterinary examination and in novel situations (including first time at the veterinary clinic) from 26,555 responses in the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire database. According to their guardians, over half (55%) of companion dogs displayed some form of fearful behaviour (mild-extreme) when examined by a veterinarian, while 14% of dogs exhibited severe or extreme fear. A similar trend was observed with dogs responding fearfully in unfamiliar situations, including the dog's first time at the veterinary clinic. Chisquared tests showed every bivariate relationship was significant (p < 0.05). The most important predictors of fear in a veterinary examination were, in order: the dog's breed group (27.1%), their history of roles or activities (16.7%), where they were sourced (15.2%), their weight (12%), the age of other dogs in the household (9.5%) and dog owner experience (6.3%). However, these risk factors accumulate to explain a total of 7% of variance of fear observed during veterinary examination. Results demonstrate that fear of veterinary visits is common in dogs, but that other factors (including the environment or human-animal interactions) are likely to contribute more to prevalence and severity of this problem than the demographic factors measured here. Finally, we highlight opportunities for future research aimed at facilitating less stressful veterinary visits for dogs and their guardians.

show abstract

Effect of training for dog fear identification on dog owner ratings of fear in familiar and unfamiliar dogs

Cited by 24 publications

References 24 publications

Investigating risk factors that predict a dog’s fear during veterinary consultations

Investigating risk factors that predict a dog’s fear during veterinary consultations

Comparison of Canine Behaviour Scored Using a Shelter Behaviour Assessment and an Owner Completed Questionnaire, C-BARQ

Investigating risk factors that predict a dog’s fear during veterinary visits

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