Perception of dogs’ stress by their owners

Cross-modal discrimination of human gender by domestic dogs

“…Rosado, García-Belenguer, León, & Palacio, 2009). While there do not appear to be gender differences in owner attachment levels towards dogs (Prato-Previde et al, 2005), male and female owners do differ in their interaction style with dogs, as men speak to their dogs less frequently (Prato-Previde et al, 2005) and are less likely to perceive their dog as being stressed (Mariti et al, 2012). It is possible that gender-specific behavioural differences may create a need for dogs to categorize men and women in order to adapt their responses appropriately.…”

Possible application of oxidative stress parameters for the evaluation of animal welfare in sheltered dogs subjected to different environmental and health conditions

“…The terms "overstress" (the subject may not be aware) and "distress" (the subject may be aware) are used to indicate an effort at adaptation that requires a large amount of energy, at a cost to other biological functions (e.g., growth and reproduction). In the case of distress, the subject's perception of the effort necessary to attempt to re-establish homeostasis is often accompanied by suffering (Mariti et al, 2012). All these concepts may affect dogs in shelters.…”

The Emotional Lives of Companion Animals: Attachment and Subjective Claims by Owners of Cats and Dogs

“…Rather than being confounded by anthropomorphic interpretations, owner reports have been demonstrated to provide reliable and consistent interpretation of their animal's behavior (Morris, Doe and Godsell 2008;Mariti et al 2012). Additionally, owners are the primary source of information regarding companion-animal behavior problems (Bennett and Rohlf 2007;Blackwell et al 2008;Arhant et al 2010), and are able to identify overt behavioral indicators of stress (e.g., trembling, crying, or excessive barking), indicative of reduced welfare (Mariti et al 2012). In detailed reviews the value of observer assessments (when used in careful experimental design) in investigating animal welfare are described (Wemelsfelder 1997;Meagher 2009).…”