Influence of Walker Sex and Familiarity on Scent-Marking Behavior of Juvenile and Mature Shelter Dogs
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: McGuire B
PROVIDER: S-EPMC10705330 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Interactions with humans influence the behavior and physiology of other animals, and the response can vary with sex and familiarity. Dogs in animal shelters face challenging conditions and although contact with humans typically reduces stress and behaviors associated with stress, evidence indicates that shelter dogs react differently to unfamiliar men and women. Given that some aspects of canine scent-marking behavior change under fearful conditions, we examined whether sex of an unfamiliar walker would influence scent-marking behavior of 100 shelter dogs during leash walks. Male dogs urinated at higher rates when walked by unfamiliar women than when walked by unfamiliar men; female dogs urinated at similar rates when walked by unfamiliar women and unfamiliar men. Sex of walker influenced urinary posture in male dogs, but not in female dogs. Both male and female dogs were more likely to defecate when walked by unfamiliar women than by unfamiliar men. Based on our findings that shelter dogs behave differently in the presence of unfamiliar men and women, we suggest that researchers conducting behavioral studies of dogs record, consider in analyses, and report the sex of observers and handlers as standard practice. We also recommend recording the sex of shelter staff present at behavioral evaluations because the results of these evaluations can impact dog welfare.
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Project description:How the presence of conspecifics affects scent mark deposition remains an understudied aspect of olfactory communication, even though scent marking occurs in different social contexts. Sex differences in scent-marking behaviour are common, and sex-specific effects of the audience could therefore be expected. We investigated sex differences in intra-group audience effects on anogenital scent marking in four groups of wild red-fronted lemurs (Eulemur rufifrons) by performing focal scent-marking observations. We observed a total of 327 events divided into 223 anogenital scent-marking events and 104 pass-by events (i.e. passage without scent marking). Using a combination of generalised linear mixed models and exponential random graph models, we found that scent marking in red-fronted lemurs is associated with some behavioural flexibility linked to the composition of the audience at the time of scent deposition. In particular, our study revealed sex differences in the audience effects, with males being overall more sensitive to their audience than females. Moreover, we show that these audience effects were dependent on the relative degree of social integration of the focal individual compared to that of individuals in the audience (difference in Composite Sociality Index) as well as the strength of the dyadic affiliative relationship (rank of Dyadic Composite Sociality Index within the group). The audience effects also varied as a function of the audience radius considered. Hence, we showed that scent marking in red-fronted lemurs is associated with some behavioural flexibility linked to the composition of the audience, ascribing red-fronted lemurs' social competence in this context.
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Project description:Previous empirical evaluations of training programs aimed at improving dog adoption rates assume that dogs exhibiting certain behaviors are more adoptable. However, no systematic data are available to indicate that the spontaneous behavior of shelter dogs has an effect on adopter preference. The aim of the present study was to determine whether any behaviors that dogs exhibit spontaneously in the presence of potential adopters were associated with the dogs' length of stay in the shelter. A sample of 289 dogs was videotaped for 1 min daily throughout their stay at a county shelter. To account for differences in adopter behavior, experimenters varied from solitary passive observers to pairs of interactive observers. Dogs behaved more attentively to active observers. To account for adopter preference for morphology, dogs were divided into "morphologically preferred" and "non-preferred" groups. Morphologically preferred dogs were small, long coated, ratters, herders, and lap dogs. No theoretically significant differences in behavior were observed between the two different dog morphologies. When accounting for morphological preference, three behaviors were found to have a significant effect on length of stay in all dogs: leaning or rubbing on the enclosure wall (increased median length of stay by 30 days), facing away from the front of the enclosure (increased by 15 days), and standing (increased by 7 days). When combinations of behaviors were assessed, back and forth motion was found to predict a longer stay (increased by 24 days). No consistent behavioral changes were observed due to time spent at the shelter. These findings will allow shelters to focus behavioral modification efforts only on behaviors likely to influence adopters' choices.
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Project description:For animals in confinement housing the housing structure has tremendous potential to impact well being. Dogs in animal shelters are often housed in one of two types of confinement housing - single kennels and rooms or double compartment kennels and rooms most often separated by a guillotine door. This study examines the effect of housing on the location of elimination behavior in dogs housed in double compartment kennels were the majority of the dogs were walked daily. One side of the kennel contained the food, water and bed and the other side was empty and available except during cleaning time. Location of urination and defecation was observed daily for 579 dogs housed in indoor double compartment kennels for a total of 4440 days of observation. There were 1856 days (41.9%) when no elimination was noted in the kennel. Feces, urine or both were observed in the kennel on 2584 days (58.1%). When elimination occurred in the kennel the probability of fecal elimination on the opposite side of the bed/food/water was 72.5% (95% CI 69.05% to 75.69%). The probability of urination on the opposite side of the bed/food/water was 77.4% (95% CI 74.33% to 80.07%). This study demonstrates the strong preference of dogs to eliminate away from the area where they eat, drink and sleep. Double compartment housing not only allows this - it allows staff the ability to provide safe, efficient, humane daily care and confers the added benefits of reducing risks for disease transmission for the individual dog as well as the population.
| S-EPMC4019474 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Human personality influences the way people interact with dogs. This study investigated the associations between the personality of animal shelter volunteers and behavior during on-leash walks with shelter dogs. Video recording and a canine leash tension meter were used to monitor the on-leash walking. Personality was measured in five dimensions (neurotic, extroverted, open, agreeable and conscientious) with the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Neurotic volunteers pulled the leash harder and tended to interact with dogs using more body language; dogs being walked by neurotic volunteers in turn displayed more lip-licking and body shaking and were more likely to be rated as well-behaved. Extroverted volunteers were associated with stronger maximal leash tension at both the human and dog ends of the leash, and they praised the dog more, often in a high pitched voice. These volunteers eliciting more tail-wagging and body shaking by the dog. Extroverted volunteers were also more tolerant of different dog behaviors. Volunteers with personalities characterized by "openness to experiences" were less likely to verbally attract the attention of dogs, praise dogs and talk to them in a high-pitched voice; however, dogs walked by these volunteers were more likely to pull on the leash, and engaged in more lip-licking but less sniffing. "Agreeable" volunteers liked to verbally attract the attention of the dogs and more commonly initiated hand gestures and physical contact, causing the dogs to pull less frequently; dogs in these dyads displayed more gazing and lip-licking behaviors. Conscientious volunteers were less likely to pull the leash and tended to have more physical contact with the dogs but did not favor verbal communication and did not use a high pitched voice.
| S-EPMC8079626 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Mate selection influences individual fitness, is often based on complex cues and behaviours, and can be difficult to study in solitary species including carnivores. We used motion-triggered cameras at 29 community scrapes (i.e. scent marking locations used by multiple individuals) and home range data from 39 GPS-collared pumas (Puma concolor) to assess the relevance of communication behaviours for mate selection by female pumas in California. Female pumas visited community scrapes irregularly and visitation bouts appeared to be correlated with oestrus. Female pumas on average selected from 1.7 collared males, and selection was based on multiple cues that varied among the different time periods measured (i.e. the female's visitation bout and in 90 days previous to the consorting event). Female mate selection over the course of a visitation bout was based on frequency of the male visitation, mass, and age. In the 90 days previous to consorting, the number of scrapes a male created was the most important contributor to selection, which was likely related to his residency status. We also found that at least 14% of females mated with multiple males, thus possibly confusing paternity. Our findings provide a mechanistic understanding of how female pumas use scent and auditory communication at community scrapes to select dominant resident males to mate with.
| S-EPMC4619504 | biostudies-literature
Project description:According to the currently prevailing theory, hippocampal formation constructs and maintains cognitive spatial maps. Most of the experimental evidence for this theory comes from the studies on navigation in laboratory rats and mice, typically male animals. While these animals exhibit a rich repertoire of behaviors associated with navigation, including locomotion, head movements, whisking, sniffing, raring and scent marking, the contribution of these behavioral patterns to the hippocampal spatially-selective activity has not been sufficiently studied. Instead, many publications have considered animal position in space as the major variable that affects the firing of hippocampal place cells and entorhinal grid cells. Here we argue that future work should focus on a more detailed examination of different behaviors exhibited during navigation to better understand the mechanism of spatial tuning in hippocampal neurons. As an inquiry in this direction, we have analyzed data from two datasets, shared online, containing recordings from rats navigating in square and round arenas. Our analyses revealed patchy navigation patterns, evident from the spatial maps of animal position, velocity and acceleration. Moreover, grid cells available in the datasets exhibited similar periodicity as the navigation parameters. These findings indicate that activity of grid cells could affect navigation parameters and/or vice versa. Additionally, we speculate that scent marks left by navigating animals could contribute to neuronal responses while rats and mice sniff their environment; the act of sniffing could modulate neuronal discharges even in virtual visual environments. Accordingly, we propose that future experiments should contain additional controls for navigation patterns, whisking, sniffing and maps composed of scent marks.
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Project description:Exposing female house mice (Mus musculus) to male urinary scent accelerates their sexual development (Vandenbergh effect). Here, we tested whether exposing juvenile male mice to females' urine similarly influences male growth and size of their sexual organs. We exposed three-week old male house mice to female urine or water (control) for ca. three months. We found that female-exposed males grew significantly faster and gained more body mass than controls, despite all males being reared on a controlled diet, but we detected no differences in males' muscle mass or sexual organs. In contrast, exposing juvenile males to male urine had no effect their growth. We tested whether the males' accelerated growth imposed functional trade-offs on males' immune resistance to an experimental infection. We challenged the same male subjects with an avirulent bacterial pathogen (Salmonella enterica), but found no evidence that faster growth impacted their bacterial clearance, body mass or survival during infection compared to controls. Our results provide the first evidence to our knowledge that juvenile male mice accelerate their growth when exposed to the urine of adult females, though we found no evidence that increased growth had negative trade-offs on immune resistance to infectious disease.
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Project description:Every shelter dog is faced with the challenge to adapt to a kennel environment. To monitor the welfare of individual shelter dogs, evaluating behavioural and physiological parameters, potentially useful as indicators for adaptability of individual dogs is crucial. Nocturnal activity, i.e. resting patterns, has already been identified as a candidate indicator of adaptability and can be easily measured remotely with the help of sensors. We investigated the usefulness of a 3-axial accelerometer (Actigraph®) to monitor nocturnal activity in shelter dogs every night during the full first two weeks in-shelter starting directly at shelter intake, as a measure of welfare. Additionally, urinary cortisol/creatinine ratio (UCCR), body weight and behaviour data were collected to evaluate stress responses. A control group of pet dogs in homes, matched to the shelter dog group, was also monitored. Shelter dogs had higher nocturnal activity and UCCRs than pet dogs, especially during the first days in the shelter. Nocturnal activity, both accelerometer measures and activity behaviour, and UCCRs decreased over nights in the shelter. Smaller dogs had higher nocturnal activity and UCCRs than larger dogs and showed less autogrooming during the first nights. Dogs with no previous kennel experience had higher nocturnal activity and UCCRs, and showed less body shaking, than dogs with previous kennel experience. Overall, sheltered dogs also showed less body shaking during the first night. The number of dogs showing paw lifting decreased over days. Age class and sex effected only few activity behaviours. Shelter dogs significantly lost body weight after 12 days in the shelter compared to the moment of intake. Shelter dogs had disrupted nocturnal resting patterns and UCCRs compared to pet dogs and seem to partly adapt to the shelter environment after two weeks. Sensor-supported identification of nocturnal activity can be a useful additional tool for welfare assessments in animal shelters.
| S-EPMC10270336 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PurposeChildren with specific language impairment (SLI) have known deficits in the verb lexicon and finiteness marking. This study investigated a potential relationship between these 2 variables in children with SLI and 2 control groups considering predictions from 2 different theoretical perspectives, morphosyntactic versus morphophonological.MethodChildren with SLI, age-equivalent, and language-equivalent (LE) control children (n=59) completed an experimental sentence imitation task that generated estimates of children's finiteness accuracy under 2 levels of verb familiarity--familiar real verbs versus unfamiliar real verbs--in clausal sites marked for finiteness. Imitations were coded and analyzed for overall accuracy as well as finiteness marking and verb root imitation accuracy.ResultsStatistical comparisons revealed that children with SLI did not differ from LE children and were less accurate than age-equivalent children on all dependent variables: overall imitation, finiteness marking imitation, and verb root imitation accuracy. A significant Group×Condition interaction for finiteness marking revealed lower levels of accuracy on unfamiliar verbs for the SLI and LE groups only.ConclusionsFindings indicate a relationship between verb familiarity and finiteness marking in children with SLI and younger controls and help clarify the roles of morphosyntax, verb lexicon, and morphophonology.
| S-EPMC4398583 | biostudies-literature