Fear responses to noises in domestic dogs: Prevalence, risk factors and co-occurrence with other fear related behaviour
Behavioural signs of fear or anxiety on exposure to noises in owned domestic dogs have been suggested in clinical studies to be common and a significant welfare concern. In this study two approaches were taken to investigate the occurrence of, and risk factors for, these behaviours: a postal survey of dog owners to investigate general […]
Measuring fear in dogs by questionnaires: An exploratory study toward a standardized inventory
Several types of questionnaires are in use to measure fear-related behaviour in family dogs. Our aim was to develop a general questionnaire based on relevant previous studies in order to facilitate the standardization of measurements of fear-related behaviour in dogs (social fear, non-social fear, separation problems, anxiety/destructiveness and neuroticism). We investigated which aspects of fear […]
The effect of a pressure vest on the behaviour, salivary cortisol and urine oxytocin of noise phobic dogs in a controlled test
Fear of loud noises is a common welfare problem in pet dogs. Commercial treatment vests have been tested on dogs to relieve noise phobia, and peripheral oxytocin has been suggested to be one of the stress-relieving mediators. The effect of vests has not, however, been tested in a controlled situation. We tested whether individually customized […]