Influence of housing conditions on beagle behaviour

Abstract

Behaviours studied were movement, vocalisation, lying down, sleep, object manipulation, barrier manipulation, barrier jumping, fence running, agonistic and affiliative activities, and proximity. Behavioural effects were compared among housing conditions, order of rotation through each housing condition, and behavioural changes over time during each 3 month rotation.Dogs spent more time moving in pens and runs than in cages. Dogs housed in the greatest degree of social isolation spent the most time moving, exhibited the greatest number of bizarre movements, and vocalised the most. Dogs housed in the smallest cages spent more time grooming and in manipulation of enclosure barriers than those housed in any other conditions. Forced treadmill exercise did not significantly alter behaviours. When housed in pairs, dogs spent more time sleeping and showed a tendency to spend less time vocalising than when housed singly.The results indicate that spatial area and activity are not likely to be the most important factors to be considered when evaluating psychosocial well-being of dogs. In assessing the psychosocial wellbeing of dogs, social isolation may be as harmful or more harmful than spatial restriction.

Noise in the Animal Shelter Environment: Building Design and the Effects of Daily Noise Exposure

“…Noise is absorbed and contained within the smaller room. These designs may also permit social housing of dogs, which research has shown to decrease noise caused by animal vocalization and increase the time animals spend sleeping (Hetts, Clark, Calpin, Arnold, & Mateo, 1992;Mertens & Unshelm, 1996). The incorporation of areas for play groups can contribute to noise abatement, as a mentally and physically exercised dog usually is a quiet one (personal communication, November 17, 2005; San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Humane Society at Lollypop Farm, Denver Dumb Friends League, North Shore Animal League).…”

Epidemology of Intraspecies Bite Wounds in Dogs in the Czech Republic

“…Nowadays this simplistic idea is accepted less frequently (Hetts et al 1992;Houpt and Willis 2001) but as stated by Fraser and Rushen (1987), it still survives. Presently, the circumstances under which aggression occurs become more emphasized.…”

Effects of group size and space allocation on physiological, behavioural and production-related welfare parameters in farmed silver fox cubs

“…dogs, foxes) exploring the linkage between increased available space or increased number of animals within a housing unit and activity level have led to contradictory conclusions. As the amount of space available increases, the activity level of the animals has either increased (dog: Hetts et al 1992), remained constant (raccoon dog: Korhonen and Harri 1988), or decreased (dog: Hughes et al 1989). Increasing the number of animals within a housing unit, which usually means also increasing the total available area for the members of the group, has typically increased the activity level of the animals (dog: Hubrecht et al 1992;silver fox: Bakken et al 1994, Ahola et al 2000, but see dog: Hetts et al 1992).…”

“…As the amount of space available increases, the activity level of the animals has either increased (dog: Hetts et al 1992), remained constant (raccoon dog: Korhonen and Harri 1988), or decreased (dog: Hughes et al 1989). Increasing the number of animals within a housing unit, which usually means also increasing the total available area for the members of the group, has typically increased the activity level of the animals (dog: Hubrecht et al 1992;silver fox: Bakken et al 1994, Ahola et al 2000, but see dog: Hetts et al 1992). In the present study, neither increasing space allocation (0.6 m 2 vs. 1.2 m 2 ) nor increasing the number of animals within a housing unit (one vs. two vs. four) evoked any differences in activity levels of the animals.…”

“…The social environment an animal lives in, in contrast, has been found to have effects on the incidence of stereotyped behaviour. Dogs in social isolation exhibited the greatest number of bizarre movements (Hetts et al 1992) and spent considerably more time in repetitive behaviour (Hubrecht et al 1992). When dogs were transferred from group conditions into smaller, individual housing systems they showed lower postures, signs of repetitive behaviour and autogrooming (Beerda et al 1999).…”