Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How dog and owner behaviors affect each other at the vet
By M. Helsly et al.·Published in The Veterinary Journal·2022·View original on Semantic Scholar →
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Original publication title: Dog behaviours in veterinary consultations: Part II. The relationship between the behaviours of dogs and their owners.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at how dogs behave during vet visits when their owners are present. It found that dogs often mirror their owners' actions, and when owners showed signs of stress, their dogs tended to become more anxious as well. Interestingly, attempts by owners to comfort their dogs didn't seem to help reduce their stress. However, stressed dogs were more likely to make eye contact with their owners, indicating they were looking for reassurance. This suggests that having owners present at vet visits can be beneficial, but owners should try to stay calm to help their dogs feel more at ease.
People also search for: dog anxiety at vet · how to calm my dog at the vet · owner stress affecting dog behavior
Abstract
Dogs synchronise their behaviour with those of their owners when confronted with an unfamiliar situation and interactions with their owners have been shown to decrease the dog's stress levels in some instances. However, whether owners may help manage dog anxiety during veterinary consultations remains unclear. In Part I, we compared the behaviour of dogs in the presence or absence of their owners during consultations, which consisted in three phases: exploration, examination, and greeting. Our findings suggest that allowing owners to attend consultations may be beneficial for dogs. In Part II, we investigated the direct relationship between owners' actions and their dog's behaviour. Using the videos from Part I, we examined whether: (1) dogs interact more when their owner is more interactive; (2) owners' stress scores are related to canine stress-related behaviour and emotional state; (3) owners' actions influence canine stress-related behaviours, emotional state and tolerance to manipulations; (4) canine stress-related behaviours and emotional state are associated with increased eye contact with their owners. We analysed the recordings of 29 dog-owner dyads submitted to a veterinary consultation in Part I. The behaviours of the dogs and their owners were analysed, and their emotional states were scored. The ease of manipulations was also scored. Despite limitations (e.g. no physical contact during examinations, no invasive procedures, aggressive dogs excluded, no male owners, limited sample size), our study showed a link between dog and owner behaviours: when owners attended an examination, their negative behaviours intensified the signs of anxiety in their dogs. Additionally, visual and verbal attempts to comfort their dog had no significant effect. However, we observed that the more dogs displayed stress-related behaviours, the more they established eye contact with their owners, suggesting that dogs seek information (through social referencing) or reassurance from their owners.
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Search related cases →Original publication on Semantic Scholar: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/35091047