Dog-Owner Relationship, Owner Interpretations and Dog Personality Are Connected with the Emotional Reactivity of Dogs.

ABSTRACT: We evaluated the effect of the dog-owner relationship on dogs' emotional reactivity, quantified with heart rate variability (HRV), behavioral changes, physical activity and dog owner interpretations. Twenty nine adult dogs encountered five different emotional situations (i.e., stroking, a feeding toy, separation from the owner, reunion with the owner, a sudden appearance of a novel object). The results showed that both negative and positive situations provoked signs of heightened arousal in dogs. During negative situations, owners' ratings about the heightened emotional arousal correlated with lower HRV, higher physical activity and more behaviors that typically index arousal and fear. The three factors of The Monash Dog-Owner Relationship Scale (MDORS) were reflected in the dogs' heart ra

SUBMITTER: Somppi S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9179432 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature