Gunter Lisa M, Gilchrist Rachel J, Blade Emily M, Barber Rebecca T, Feuerbacher Erica N, Platzer JoAnna M, Wynne Clive D L
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA.
Division of Education Leadership and Innovation, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA.
Animals (Basel). 2021 Feb 19;11(2):548. doi: 10.3390/ani11020548.
Social isolation likely contributes to reduced welfare for shelter-living dogs. Several studies have established that time out of the kennel with a person can improve dogs' behavior and reduce physiological measures of stress. This study assessed the effects of two-and-a-half-hour outings on the urinary cortisol levels and activity of dogs as they awaited adoption at four animal shelters. Dogs' urine was collected before and after outings for cortisol:creatinine analysis, and accelerometer devices were used to measure dogs' physical activity. In total, 164 dogs participated in this study, with 793 cortisol values and 3750 activity measures used in the statistical analyses. We found that dogs' cortisol:creatinine ratios were significantly higher during the afternoon of the intervention but returned to pre-field trip levels the following day. Dogs' minutes of low activity were significantly reduced, and high activity significantly increased during the outing. Although dogs' cortisol and activity returned to baseline after the intervention, our findings suggest that short-term outings do not confer the same stress reduction benefits as previously shown with temporary fostering. Nevertheless, it is possible that these types of outing programs are beneficial to adoptions by increasing the visibility of dogs and should be further investigated to elucidate these effects.
社交隔离可能会导致收容所中的狗狗福利降低。多项研究表明，与人类一起离开犬舍的时间可以改善狗狗的行为，并降低压力的生理指标。本研究评估了在四个动物收容所等待领养的狗狗，进行两个半小时外出活动对其尿液皮质醇水平和活动情况的影响。在外出前后收集狗狗的尿液用于皮质醇：肌酐分析，并使用加速度计设备测量狗狗的身体活动。共有164只狗狗参与了本研究，统计分析中使用了793个皮质醇值和3750个活动测量数据。我们发现，在干预当天下午，狗狗的皮质醇：肌酐比值显著升高，但在第二天又恢复到实地考察前的水平。在外出期间，狗狗的低活动分钟数显著减少，高活动显著增加。虽然干预后狗狗的皮质醇和活动恢复到了基线水平，但我们的研究结果表明，短期外出并不能像之前临时寄养那样带来相同的减压益处。然而，这类外出活动计划有可能通过提高狗狗的可见度而对领养有益，应该进一步研究以阐明这些影响。
