Psychobiological Factors Affecting Cortisol Variability in Human-Dog Dyads

Schöberl, Iris; Wedl, Manuela; Beetz, Andrea; Kotrschal, Kurt

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0170707

Cited by 40 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…Owners scoring high on conscientiousness and openness had dogs with higher cortisol concentrations, and owners scoring high on neuroticism had dogs with lower concentrations. Interestingly, this is consistent with previous results on how owners' and dogs' personality traits influence short-term stress levels in dogs (168)(169)(170)(171). Thus, it seems that the owner has the greater influence on dog cortisol concentrations within the dyad and that dogs reflect the stress of their owners.…”

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confidence: 91%

Dog behaviour : Intricate picture of genetics, epigenetics, and human-dog relations

Sundman

2019

Linköping Studies in Science and Technology. Dissertations

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Dogs, Canis familiaris, share the lives of humans all over the world. That dogs, and the behaviour of dogs, are of interest to many is therefore no surprise. In this thesis, the main aim has been to identify factors that affect dogs' behaviours. The dog, Canis familiaris, is our first domesticated animal. Since domestication, various types of dogs have developed through adaptation to an environment shared with humans and through our selective breeding, resulting in a unique variation in morphology and behaviour. Although there is an individual variation in the behaviour of dogs, there is also a difference between breeds. Moreover, selection during the last decades has split some breeds into divergent types. Labrador and golden retrievers are divided into a common type, for show and companionship, and a field type, for hunting. By comparing the breed types, we can study the effects of recent selection. In Paper I, we investigate differences in general behavioural traits between Labrador and golden retriever and between common and field type within the two breeds by using results from the standardized behaviour test Dog Mentality Assessment. There were differences between breeds and types for all behavioural traits. However, there was also an interaction between breed and type. Thus, a common/field-type Labrador does not behave like a common/field-type golden retriever. Even though they have been selected for similar traits, the selection has affected the general behavioural traits differently in the two breeds. In paper II, we were interested in dogs' human-directed social skills. Dogs have a high social competence when it comes to humans. Two experiments commonly used to study these skills are the problem-solving test, where dogs' human-directed behaviours when faced with a problem are measured, and the pointing test, where dogs are tested on how well they understand human gestures. We compared the social skills of German shepherds and Labrador retrievers, and of common-and field-type Labradors. Labradors were more successful in the pointing test and German shepherds stayed closer to their owners during the problem solving. Among Labrador types, the field type had more human eye contact than the common type. Importantly, when comparing the two experiments, we found no positive correlations between the problem-solving test and the pointing test, suggesting that the two tests measure different aspects of human-directed social behaviour in dogs. A previous study has identified two suggestive genetic regions for human-directed social behaviours during the problem-solving test in beagles. In paper III, we show that these SNPs are also associated to social behaviours in Labrador and golden retrievers. Moreover, the Labrador breed types differed significantly in allele frequencies. This indicates that the two SNPs have been affected by recent selection and may have a part in the differences in sociability between common and field type. The behaviour of dogs cannot simply be explained by genetics, there is also an enviro...

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confidence: 91%

Dog behaviour : Intricate picture of genetics, epigenetics, and human-dog relations

Sundman

2019

Linköping Studies in Science and Technology. Dissertations

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“… 42 This adds strength to our finding that personality may be associated with dog bite incidence. There also is evidence of an association between parent personality and child parenting style, 43 which appears to echo in links between owner personality and dog personality 44 and the nature of the dog–owner relationship. 45 These studies suggest that nervous/anxious owners may have nervous/anxious dogs, which may be another explanation for increased bite risk.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How many people have been bitten by dogs? A cross-sectional survey of prevalence, incidence and factors associated with dog bites in a UK community

Westgarth

Brooke

Christley

2018

J Epidemiol Community Health

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BackgroundDog bite studies are typically based on hospital records and may be biased towards bites requiring significant medical treatment. This study investigated true dog bite prevalence and incidence at a community-level and victim-related risk factors, in order to inform policy and prevention.MethodsA cross-sectional study of a community of 1280 households in Cheshire, UK, surveyed 694 respondents in 385 households. Data included dog ownership and bite history, demographics, health and personality (Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) brief measure). Multivariable logistic regression modelled risk factors for having ever been bitten by a dog, accounting for clustering of individuals within households.ResultsA quarter of participants (24.78%, 95% CI 21.72 to 28.13) reported having ever been bitten by a dog during their lifetime, with only a third of bites described requiring further medical treatment and 0.6% hospital admission. Incidence of dog bites was 18.7 (11.0–31.8) per 1000 population per year. Males were 1.81 times more likely to have been bitten in their lifetime than females (95% CI 1.20 to 2.72, P=0.005). Current owners of multiple dogs were 3.3 times more likely (95% CI 1.13 to 9.69, P=0.03) to report having been bitten than people not currently owning a dog. Regarding all bites described, most commonly people were bitten by a dog that they had never met before the incident (54.7%). Individuals scoring higher in emotional stability had a lower risk of having ever been bitten (OR=0.77 for 1 point change in scale between 1 and 7, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.9, P=0.001).ConclusionThis study suggests that the real burden of dog bites is considerably larger than those estimated from hospital records. Further, many bites do not require medical treatment and hospital-based bite data are not representative of bites within the wider population. Victim personality requires further investigation and potential consideration in the design of bite prevention schemes.

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“…An increase in cortisol concentrations in the owner was accompanied by an increase in the cortisol level in the dog. Schöberl et al [48] reported unequivocally that a greater impact on the variability of cortisol levels in human-dog pairs is exerted by the human. Kotrschal et al [49] found a significant impact of human personality (and thus susceptibility to stress factors) and behavior on the level of cortisol in dogs.…”

Section: Correlation Between Salivary Cortisol Level In the Handlers mentioning

confidence: 99%

Salivary Cortisol Interactions in Search and Rescue Dogs and Their Handlers

Wojtaś

Karpiński

Czyżowski

2020

Animals

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Search and rescue dogs are an important link in the search for missing persons. The aim of the study was to assess exam stress in search and rescue dogs and their handlers. The study included 41 rescue teams taking exams of field and rubble specialties. The level of cortisol, which is the main glucocorticosteroid modulating stress reactions in humans and dogs, was analyzed. The biological material used to assess the hormone concentration was saliva collected in a non-invasive way. In total, 164 test samples were collected: two from the dog and two from the handler before and immediately after the exam. Rescue exams were shown to significantly increase salivary cortisol in both dogs and their handlers. Strong interactions between cortisol levels in human–dog teams were also found with a more pronounced effect in female dog–female handler dyads.

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Psychobiological Factors Affecting Cortisol Variability in Human-Dog Dyads

Cited by 40 publications

References 81 publications

Dog behaviour : Intricate picture of genetics, epigenetics, and human-dog relations

Dog behaviour : Intricate picture of genetics, epigenetics, and human-dog relations

How many people have been bitten by dogs? A cross-sectional survey of prevalence, incidence and factors associated with dog bites in a UK community

Salivary Cortisol Interactions in Search and Rescue Dogs and Their Handlers

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