| 1. |
- Foyer, Pernilla, et al.
(författare)
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Behavior and cortisol responses of dogs evaluated in a standardized temperament test for military working dogs
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Veterinary Behavior. - : Elsevier. - 1558-7878 .- 1878-7517. ; 11, s. 7-12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Military and police working dogs are often exposed to stressful or threatening events, and an improper response, e.g., fear, may implicate both reduced working efficiency and welfare. Therefore, identifying individuals that display a favorable response to potentially threatening situations is of great interest. In the present study, we investigated behavior responses of 85 prospective military working dogs in 4 subtests in a standardized temperament test used to select working dogs for the Swedish Armed Forces. Our goal was to evaluate behavioral responses in specific subtests and cortisol responses of candidate dogs. After dogs were rated as approved or nonapproved based on the test leader’s assessment of the full test result, we independently analyzed video recordings of 4 subtests. In addition, for 37 dogs, we analyzed pretest and posttest salivary cortisol levels. Dogs which were approved by the test leader for further training scored higher in the video recordings on emotionality and, in particular, fear-related behavior during a subset of the test and had higher levels of cortisol both before and after the test, than nonapproved dogs. Although this may actually reflect the desired traits, it could also indicate a bias in the selection procedure, which may pose limitations on the attempts to recruit the most suitable working dogs.
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| 2. |
- Foyer, Pernilla, et al.
(författare)
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Behaviour and experiences of dogs during the first year of life predict the outcome in a later temperament test
- 2014
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Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 155, s. 93-100
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Early life experiences are known to shape the behavioural development of animals, and therefore events occurring during preadolescence and adolescence may have long-term effects. In dogs, this period of time may be important for later behaviour and thereby also the suitability of dogs for different working tasks. We used the breeding practice for Swedish military working dogs to investigate this possibility. German Shepherds were bred at a central facility and then kept in host families for about a year, before participating in a standardised test determining their temperament, behaviour, and suitability for further training. We surveyed the link between the behaviour of 71 prospective military working dogs in their home situations during the first year of life as assessed by an amended C-BARQ survey, and their performance in a temperament test (T-test) applied at about 17 months of age. Dogs which scored high for C-BARQ category "Trainability" showed a significantly higher success rate in the T-test (P < 0.001), while dogs that scored high for "Stranger-directed fear", "Non-social fear" and "Dog-directed fear" showed a significantly lower success rate (all P < 0.05). Also dogs with higher C-BARQ scores on "Hyperactivity/restlessness, difficulties in settling down" (P=0.028), and "Chasing/following shadows or light spots" (P=0.035) were more successful, as were dogs left longer times at home (2.97 +/- 0.32 vs. 2.04 +/- 0.33 h/day; P=0.050). Index value, describing the expected success rate in the T-test, was negatively correlated with "Non-social fear" (r = -0.35) and "Stranger directed fear" (r = -0.35). The combined effect of the significant C-BARQ categories explained 29.5% of the variance in the later T-test results (P=0.006). The results indicate that the experiences and behaviour of the dogs during their first year of life is crucial in determining their later behaviour and temperament, something that could potentially be used to improve selection procedures for working dogs. Furthermore, an unsuspected result was that success in the T-test was correlated with behaviours usually associated with problem behaviour, which calls for a deeper analysis of the selection criteria used for working dogs. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 3. |
- Foyer, Pemilla, et al.
(författare)
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Early experiences modulate stress coping in a population of German shepherd dogs
- 2013
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Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 146:1-4, s. 79-87
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Early experiences may alter later behavioural expressions in animals and these differences can be consistent through adulthood. In dogs, this may have a profound impact on welfare and working ability and, it is therefore interesting to evaluate how experiences during the first weeks of life contribute to shaping the long-term behaviour. We analysed data from 503 dogs from 105 litters, bred at the Swedish Armed Forces Dog Kennel. For each dog, the data comprised information on dam and sire, sex, litter size, sex ratio of litter, date of birth, and weight at birth, and at 10 days of age. Between the ages of 377 and 593 days, the dogs were tested in a temperament test, assessing their suitability as working dogs. The behaviour test comprised 12 different sub-tests, and was scored on a behavioural rating scale. A principal component analysis showed that the test performance could largely be attributed to four principal components (explaining 55.7% of variation), labelled Confidence, Physical Engagement, Social Engagement and Aggression. We analysed the effects of the different early life variables and sex on the principal component scores (PC scores) using linear modelling. PC scores on Confidence were affected by parity, sex and litter size, and Physical Engagement was affected by parity, growth rate, litter size and season of birth. Social Engagement was affected by growth rate and sex, and Aggression was affected by sex. Some of these effects disappeared when they were combined into a single linear model, but most of them remained significant also when controlling for collinearity. The results suggest that the early environment of dogs have long-lasting effects on their behaviour and coping styles in a stressful test situation and this knowledge can be used in the work with breeding of future military or police working dogs.
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| 4. |
- Foyer, Pernilla, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Levels of maternal care in dogs affect adult off spring temperament
- 2016
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Dog puppies are born in a state of large neural immaturity; therefore, the nervous system is sensitive to environmental influences early in life. In primates and rodents, early experiences, such as maternal care, have been shown to have profound and lasting effects on the later behaviour and physiology of offspring. We hypothesised that this would also be the case for dogs with important implications for the breeding of working dogs. In the present study, variation in the mother-offspring interactions of German Shepherd dogs within the Swedish breeding program for military working dogs was studied by video recording 22 mothers with their litters during the first three weeks postpartum. The aim was to classify mothers with respect to their level of maternal care and to investigate the effect of this care on pup behaviour in a standardised temperament test carried out at approximately 18 months of age. The results show that females differed consistently in their level of maternal care, which significantly affected the adult behaviour of the offspring, mainly with respect to behaviours classified as Physical and Social Engagement, as well as Aggression. Taking maternal quality into account in breeding programs may therefore improve the process of selecting working dogs.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Åkerberg, Helena, et al.
(författare)
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Test for personality characteristics in dogs used in research
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of Veterinary Behavior. - : Elsevier BV. - 1558-7878 .- 1878-7517. ; 7:6, s. 327-338
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The great variation in morphological phenotypes displayed by dogs offers not only excellent opportunities for genetic analyses but also a challenge regarding between-breed and even within-breed variation. Also, behavioral responses may vary between individuals, and are to be taken into account in experimental situations. To our knowledge, no standardized test for scoring personality characteristics (TFPC) in dogs maintained for research under controlled conditions has yet been developed. The present article describes a protocol consisting of 9 test situations that are likely to arise in experimental contexts. The intent was to establish an easy-to-use standardized test protocol. Sixteen beagles were used, all housed in constant and controlled conditions. The results revealed considerable individual differences in response to certain stimuli. The largest within-group variation was found when being caged; the responses varied from passivity to escape attempts (score range: 2-5 in a 5-step scale). Substantial variation was also seen in locomotion and food consumption after exposure to stress (score range: 1-5 in a 5-step scale). In a new environment, the females showed more frequent changes in attention (focusing) compared with males (P < 0.01). There was an age-related reaction to sudden sounds (Spearman r sp = -0.52, P < 0.05). We also describe application of the TFPC to a study of food intake in response to pancreatic polypeptide performed with 6 of the male dogs. A within-group rank-order procedure was used, and interesting correlations between personality characteristics and food intake behavior were identified. We discuss how the TFPC may contribute to improvement of experimental studies in dogs.
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