Evidence of horsemanship and dogmanship and their application in veterinary contexts

Horsemanship, dogmanship and humanship

“…With animals, when only slow improvement is expected, veterinarians should inform owners about the need for patience and encourage them to measure progress by some simple means so preventing frustration by applying 'humanship'. Payne et al (2015) …”

“…A paper published recently in The Veterinary Journal by Elyssa Payne of the University of Sydney, and her colleagues, summarises skills that veterinary teams should possess in order to improve their interactions with horses or dogs and outlines how they should demonstrate these skills to clients and how to improve owner handling of animals (Payne et al, 2015). Moderating the state of arousal and promoting a positive affective state in an animal are means to improve not only the safety of the people involved, but also the welfare of the animal and the degree of satisfaction of the client.…”

“…Moderating the state of arousal and promoting a positive affective state in an animal are means to improve not only the safety of the people involved, but also the welfare of the animal and the degree of satisfaction of the client. Payne et al (2015) describe desirable attributes of veterinarians, such as consistent behaviour, building on previous learning history of the animal, decreased positive punishment and increased reward. These characteristics are supported by peerreviewed evidence and the predicted direction of the influences of these attributes on the affective state or arousal of the animal.…”

Elephant-Initiated Interactions with Humans: Individual Differences and Specific Preferences in Captive African Elephants (Loxodonta africana)

“…Interactions with humans may have the effect of reducing stress in dogs, a quality that interaction with other dogs lacks (1). Dogs also preferred to initiate interactions with humans to kennelmates (2).…”

“…HABs have been defined as “reciprocal and persistent” relationships that benefit both parties involved (8, 9). The potential for animals to develop HABs has been evidenced in multiple species, including dogs and horses (1), farm animals (10), and various zoo animals (5, 8). A positive relationship has been shown between the frequency of HAIs and the subsequent development of a HAB (1).…”