A Pre-Screening Tool to Assess Dog Suitability for Animal-Assisted Interventions: Preliminary Results for Dog-Suitability Tests (<i>SuiTe</i>).

ABSTRACT: Animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) or Services (AAS) may cause stress in participating dogs, making the selection of suitable individuals essential to prevent strain. Different non-standardized approaches currently exist to assess dogs' suitability for AAIs. This preliminary study aimed at evaluating two combined tools, a behavioural aptitude test (SuiTe) and an ad hoc revised questionnaire incorporating C-BARQ, for pre-screening dog suitability for AAIs, also in relation to salivary cortisol measured by enzyme immunoassay in N = 38 dogs. Dogs' behavioural responses to environmental and social stimuli were scored on an X-Y scale and classified by two independent evaluators as suitable (S), pending suitability (P), or unsuitable (U). Non-parametric tests were performed (p

SUBMITTER: Russo G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12737594 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature