Dog’s
Today Magazine posted this on their Facebook page, and I thought it was worth
sharing with summer holidays ahead…
Could kennels be the holiday your dog looks forward
to? Have you been beating yourself up with guilt when reclining on your foreign
sun lounger? Research suggests so...
"Some dogs find kennels exciting, not
stressful
New research suggests that dogs who spend
a short time in boarding kennels may not find it unduly stressful and could in
fact find the change of scenery exciting.
This hypothesis directly contradicts
previous research which suggests that dogs experience acute stress following
admission to kennels, and chronic stress in response to prolonged kennelling.
The study, published in the journal
Physiology & Behavior, also suggests that dogs may even view kennelling as
an exciting change of scene, at least in the short-term.
The team, which included academics from
the University of Lincoln, UK, University
of Birmingham, Queen’s University Belfast
and The Royal Veterinary College, measured a range of stress parameters in 29
privately-owned dogs - both at home and in one of three private boarding kennel
establishments in Northern
Ireland.
The study aimed to test the validity of a
range of physiological, physical and behavioural welfare indicators and to
establish baseline values reflecting good dog welfare.
Physical measurements included skin
dryness, nose temperature, core body temperature and amount of food eaten.
Behavioural measurements included spontaneous behaviours such as lip licking,
paw lifting, yawning, shaking and restlessness. Physiological measures included
stress hormones (corticosteroids) and epinephrine (adrenaline).
The research revealed that dogs have
higher levels of arousal, colder noses and were generally more active in
kennels than when they were at home.
The welfare of kennelled dogs is of
concern, given that many experience minimal social contact, exercise and
control over their environment as well as unpredictable and high levels of
noise, novelty and disrupted routines.
Based on existing research it was assumed
that dogs would show higher levels of stress in the kennel compared to the home
environment.
The most widely used physiological
indicator of canine welfare is urinary cortisol (hormone secreted following
activation of one of the major stress response systems) and creatinine
(chemical waste product created by the liver) ratios (C/Cr), which is
considered a valid measure of acute and chronic stress in dogs. However, the
reliability of this has been questioned.
The study revealed that C/Cr was
significantly higher in the kennel compared to the home environment but
cortisol levels have also been found to increase after exercise and excitement,
and appear to provide an indication of arousal without specifying the emotional
reason of that arousal.
Dr Lisa Collins, from the School of Life Sciences,
University of Lincoln, UK, said: “Many owners find leaving
their dog at a boarding kennels a stressful experience. However, this study
suggests that although dogs appeared to have a higher level of overall arousal
or excitement in kennels compared with their state at home, this arousal is not
necessarily due to dogs experiencing kennels as negatively stressful. The
emotional reasons for the behavioural and physiological responses of the dogs
were ambiguous and no definitive evidence was found to suggest that dogs were
negatively stressed by kennelling.
“Our findings did strongly suggest that
C/Cr, epinephrine and nose temperature are robust measures of psychological
arousal in dogs. Nonetheless, these measures can be easily misinterpreted and
do not provide unequivocal indicators of psychological stress. Findings appear
to suggest that the dogs in this study did not perceive admission to boarding
kennels as an aversive stressor and perhaps, instead, perceived kennelling as
an exciting change of scene, at least in the short-term.”
The team
recommends further investigation to determine the validity of measurements
tested as indicators of acute and chronic stress in domestic dogs. "
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