Hair cortisol varies with season and lifestyle and relates to human interactions in German shepherd dogs.

ABSTRACT: It is challenging to measure long-term endocrine stress responses in animals. We investigated whether cortisol extracted from dog hair reflected the levels of activity and stress long-term, during weeks and months. Hair samples from in total 59 German shepherds were analysed. Samples for measuring cortisol concentrations were collected at three occasions and we complemented the data with individual scores from the Canine Behavioural Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ). Generalised linear mixed model (GLMM) results showed that hair cortisol varied with season and lifestyle: competition dogs had higher levels than companion, and professional working dogs, and levels were higher in January than in May and September. In addition, a positive correlation was found between the cortisol

SUBMITTER: Roth LS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4726137 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature