Companion Animal Behaviour Group, Division of Animal Welfare, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
PLoS One. 2019 Sep 6;14(9):e0218150. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0218150. eCollection 2019.
Noise fears represent a highly prevalent welfare problem in dogs. An online survey was performed to explore severity and progression of firework fears in dogs, and relationships with demographics, health, behaviour problems and owners' training efforts to prevent or alleviate firework fears. Fifty-two percent of dogs in the sample (N = 1225) were at least partially affected by firework fears, and the majority developed a fear of fireworks in the first year of life, with a decreasing frequency of new occurrences up until seven years, and only few newly affected dogs beyond this age. While almost three-quarters of fearful dogs had recovered by the next morning following firework exposure, recovery took up to one day in 10%, up to one week in 12%, and several weeks or even months in >3%. Univariate analyses indicated a significant effect of breed group, age, sex, neuter status, origin and age at acquisition on severity of firework fears in dogs. However, binomial models including multiple predictors of presence/ absence of firework fears identified only age, breed group (mixed breeds being most affected), health problems, and an interaction between health problems and age as significant predictors. This discrepancy might be explained by collinearities of predictors and underlying differences between mixed-breed dogs and purebreds, such as mixed breeds being acquired from shelters more often and being neutered more often. Firework fears are highly correlated with fears of gunshots and thunder, and to a low extent with fears of other noises, but not with any other behavioural problems. Both improvement and deterioration of firework fears were frequently reported. While an early age of onset and breed differences point to a strong genetic contribution to firework fears, the data indicate that training puppies or non-fearful adults to associate the noise with positive stimuli is highly effective in preventing later development of firework fears.
噪音恐惧是犬只中一种非常普遍的福利问题。我们进行了一项在线调查，旨在探讨犬只烟花恐惧的严重程度和发展情况，以及与人口统计学特征、健康状况、行为问题和主人预防或减轻烟花恐惧的训练努力之间的关系。在样本中，有 52%（N=1225）的犬只至少受到烟花恐惧的部分影响，大多数犬只在一岁时出现对烟花的恐惧，新发生的频率直到七岁时逐渐降低，只有少数年龄超过七岁的犬只新出现这种情况。虽然将近四分之三的恐惧犬只在烟花暴露后的第二天早上就已经恢复，但 10%的犬只需要 1 天，12%的犬只需要 1 周，超过 3%的犬只需要数周甚至数月才能恢复。单变量分析表明，犬只的品种组、年龄、性别、绝育状态、来源和获得年龄对烟花恐惧的严重程度有显著影响。然而，包括烟花恐惧存在/不存在的多个预测因子的二项式模型仅确定了年龄、品种组（混血犬最易受影响）、健康问题以及健康问题与年龄之间的相互作用是显著的预测因子。这种差异可能是由于预测因子的共线性和混血犬与纯种犬之间的潜在差异所致，例如混血犬更经常从收容所获得，并且更经常被绝育。烟花恐惧与枪声和雷声恐惧高度相关，与其他噪音的恐惧程度较低相关，但与任何其他行为问题都不相关。经常报告烟花恐惧的改善和恶化。虽然发病年龄较早和品种差异表明烟花恐惧有很强的遗传因素，但数据表明，训练幼犬或不恐惧的成年犬将噪音与积极的刺激联系起来，对于预防烟花恐惧的后期发展非常有效。
