Social rearing environment influences dog behavioral development

Harvey, Naomi D.; Craigon, Peter J.; Blythe, Simon; Asher, Lucy

doi:10.1016/j.jveb.2016.03.004

Cited by 58 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…These results are in line with previous findings from our group using a similar questionnaire completed by the dogs’ puppy walkers [36] and support the construct validity of the questionnaire scales.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

An evidence-based decision assistance model for predicting training outcome in juvenile guide dogs

et al. 2017

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Working dog organisations, such as Guide Dogs, need to regularly assess the behaviour of the dogs they train. In this study we developed a questionnaire-style behaviour assessment completed by training supervisors of juvenile guide dogs aged 5, 8 and 12 months old (n = 1,401), and evaluated aspects of its reliability and validity. Specifically, internal reliability, temporal consistency, construct validity, predictive criterion validity (comparing against later training outcome) and concurrent criterion validity (comparing against a standardised behaviour test) were evaluated. Thirty-nine questions were sourced either from previously published literature or created to meet requirements identified via Guide Dogs staff surveys and staff feedback. Internal reliability analyses revealed seven reliable and interpretable trait scales named according to the questions within them as: Adaptability; Body Sensitivity; Distractibility; Excitability; General Anxiety; Trainability and Stair Anxiety. Intra-individual temporal consistency of the scale scores between 5–8, 8–12 and 5–12 months was high. All scales excepting Body Sensitivity showed some degree of concurrent criterion validity. Predictive criterion validity was supported for all seven scales, since associations were found with training outcome, at at-least one age. Thresholds of z-scores on the scales were identified that were able to distinguish later training outcome by identifying 8.4% of all dogs withdrawn for behaviour and 8.5% of all qualified dogs, with 84% and 85% specificity. The questionnaire assessment was reliable and could detect traits that are consistent within individuals over time, despite juvenile dogs undergoing development during the study period. By applying thresholds to scores produced from the questionnaire this assessment could prove to be a highly valuable decision-making tool for Guide Dogs. This is the first questionnaire-style assessment of juvenile dogs that has shown value in predicting the training outcome of individual working dogs.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

An evidence-based decision assistance model for predicting training outcome in juvenile guide dogs

et al. 2017

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“…Second, cSPS only moderately related to, and was thus at least partly independent from, neuroticism and fearfulness, similar to the moderate association between neuroticism and SPS found in the human literature [88]. With neuroticism being poorly [40,80,104] and fearfulness [7,105–107] more extensively studied in dogs, the distinction of cSPS from fearfulness carries more weight in this species at this point in time. Third, both the owner–defined as the person who spends most of the time with the dog—and another person who knew the dog well answered the questions for the same dog with a relatively high reliability six months after completing the first questionnaire, indicating a) good intra-rater reliability, b) good inter-rater reliability, c) consistency of cSPS over a relatively long time period, and d) moderate independence of the HSD-s from the owner’s personality to the degree that the owner’s personality did not sufficiently explain the variation in the dogs’ HSD scores.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Development of the “Highly Sensitive Dog” questionnaire to evaluate the personality dimension “Sensory Processing Sensitivity” in dogs

et al. 2017

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In humans, the personality dimension ‘sensory processing sensitivity (SPS)’, also referred to as “high sensitivity”, involves deeper processing of sensory information, which can be associated with physiological and behavioral overarousal. However, it has not been studied up to now whether this dimension also exists in other species. SPS can influence how people perceive the environment and how this affects them, thus a similar dimension in animals would be highly relevant with respect to animal welfare. We therefore explored whether SPS translates to dogs, one of the primary model species in personality research. A 32-item questionnaire to assess the “highly sensitive dog score” (HSD-s) was developed based on the “highly sensitive person” (HSP) questionnaire. A large-scale, international online survey was conducted, including the HSD questionnaire, as well as questions on fearfulness, neuroticism, “demographic” (e.g. dog sex, age, weight; age at adoption, etc.) and “human” factors (e.g. owner age, sex, profession, communication style, etc.), and the HSP questionnaire. Data were analyzed using linear mixed effect models with forward stepwise selection to test prediction of HSD-s by the above-mentioned factors, with country of residence and dog breed treated as random effects. A total of 3647 questionnaires were fully completed. HSD-, fearfulness, neuroticism and HSP-scores showed good internal consistencies, and HSD-s only moderately correlated with fearfulness and neuroticism scores, paralleling previous findings in humans. Intra- (N = 447) and inter-rater (N = 120) reliabilities were good. Demographic and human factors, including HSP score, explained only a small amount of the variance of HSD-s. A PCA analysis identified three subtraits of SPS, comparable to human findings. Overall, the measured personality dimension in dogs showed good internal consistency, partial independence from fearfulness and neuroticism, and good intra- and inter-rater reliability, indicating good construct validity of the HSD questionnaire. Human and demographic factors only marginally affected the HSD-s suggesting that, as hypothesized for human SPS, a genetic basis may underlie this dimension within the dog species.

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“…On the other hand, the high Responsiveness of adopted dogs (which were from the same genetic pool as the kenneled dogs), suggests that the kenneled dogs' lower responsiveness is more due to the effect of their different socialization, life experiences, and restricted environment, and less due to genetic influences. The importance of early socialization and rearing environment in shaping the dogs' behavior has long been documented [e.g., (62,63)]. For example, both (21) and (64) reported that social deprivation, especially at an early age, severely disrupts normal behavior development and could lead to abnormal social behaviors, strong fear responses, and difficulties to adapt to new situations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of Behavior and Genetic Structure in Populations of Family and Kenneled Beagles

et al. 2020

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In dogs, the social and spatial restriction associated with living in a kennel environment could lead to chronic stress and the development of abnormal behaviors ("kennel-dog syndrome"). However, little is known about how kenneled dogs differ from their conspecifics living as pets in human families. In the current study, using a test battery exposing the dogs to novel stimuli, we compared the behavior of three groups of beagles: (1) kenneled dogs living in a restricted environment with limited human contact (N = 78), (2) family dogs living in human families as pets (N = 37), and (3) adopted dogs born in the kenneled population but raised in human families (N = 13). We found one factor comprising most of the test behaviors, labeled as Responsiveness. Family dogs and adopted dogs scored higher in Responsiveness than kenneled dogs. However, 23% of the kenneled dogs were comparable to family and adopted dogs based on a cluster analysis, indicating a similar (positive) reaction to novel stimuli, while 77% of the kenneled dogs were unresponsive (mostly immobile) in at least part of the test. To assess if the behavioral difference between the family and kenneled dogs could be due to genetic divergence of these two populations and/or to lower genetic diversity of the kenneled dogs, we analyzed their genetic structure using 11 microsatellite markers. We found no significant difference between the populations in their genetic diversity (i.e., heterozygosity, level of inbreeding), nor any evidence that the family and kenneled populations originated from different genetic pools. Thus, the behavior difference between the groups more likely reflects a G × E interaction, that is, the influence of specific genetic variants manifesting under specific environmental conditions (kennel life). Nevertheless, some kenneled individuals were (genetically) more resistant to social and environmental deprivation. Selecting for such animals could strongly improve the welfare of kenneled dog populations. Moreover, exploring the genetic background of their higher resilience could also help to better understand the genetics behind stress-and fear-related behaviors.

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Social rearing environment influences dog behavioral development

Cited by 58 publications

References 49 publications

An evidence-based decision assistance model for predicting training outcome in juvenile guide dogs

An evidence-based decision assistance model for predicting training outcome in juvenile guide dogs

Development of the “Highly Sensitive Dog” questionnaire to evaluate the personality dimension “Sensory Processing Sensitivity” in dogs

Comparison of Behavior and Genetic Structure in Populations of Family and Kenneled Beagles

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