Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse, ENVT, 23 chemin des Capelles, BP 87614, 31076 Toulouse Cedex, France.
TOXALIM, Université de Toulouse, INRA, ENVT, 23 chemin des Capelles, BP 87614, 31076 Toulouse Cedex, France.
Vet J. 2022 Feb;280:105788. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2022.105788. Epub 2022 Jan 25.
Veterinary practices can be stressful places for dogs. Decreasing stress during veterinary consultations is therefore a major concern, since animal welfare matters both for owners and veterinarians. Stress can be expressed through behaviour modifications; monitoring canine behaviour is thus one way to assess stress levels. We also know that the owner can affect dog behaviour in different ways. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the effect of the presence of owners on the behaviour of their dogs in veterinary consultations. We studied 25 dog-owner dyads at two standardised veterinary consultations, conducted at intervals of 5-7 weeks; the owner was present for the first consultation and absent for the second (O/NoO group, n = 12), or vice versa (NoO/O group, n = 13). A consultation consisted in three phases: exploration, examination, greeting. Dog behaviours were compared between the two conditions using a video recording. Despite some limitations (e.g. no male owners, the exclusion of aggressive dogs, a limited sample size, minimally invasive veterinary examinations, restricted owner-dog interactions), our results showed that the presence or absence of the owner had no significant effect on the stress-related behaviour of the dog or the veterinarian's ability to handle the animal during the examination phase (P > 0.05). Nevertheless, the behaviour of the dogs towards people was affected before, during, and after the veterinary examination. In the presence of their owner, dogs were more willing to enter the consultation room (P < 0.05), and they appeared more relaxed during the exploration phase (P < 0.01). During the examination, dogs looked in direction of their owner in both situations (owner present and behind the door, respectively; P < 0.001). These results suggest that allowing the owner to stay in the room during veterinary consultations is a better option for canine welfare.
兽医诊所可能会令狗狗感到压力。因此，减少兽医就诊过程中的压力是一个主要关注点，因为动物福利对主人和兽医都很重要。压力可以通过行为改变来表达；监测犬类行为是评估压力水平的一种方法。我们也知道，主人可以以不同的方式影响狗的行为。因此，本研究的目的是评估主人的存在对兽医就诊时狗行为的影响。我们在两次标准化兽医就诊时研究了 25 个犬主对，两次就诊间隔 5-7 周；主人在第一次就诊时在场，而在第二次就诊时不在场（O/NoO 组，n = 12），或者反之亦然（NoO/O 组，n = 13）。就诊包括三个阶段：探索、检查、问候。使用视频记录比较两种情况下的犬行为。尽管存在一些限制因素（例如，没有男性主人，排除攻击性犬，样本量有限，微创兽医检查，限制主人-犬互动），我们的结果表明，主人的存在与否对狗的应激相关行为或兽医在检查阶段处理动物的能力没有显著影响（P > 0.05）。然而，狗在兽医检查前后对人的行为受到影响。在主人在场的情况下，狗更愿意进入咨询室（P < 0.05），并且在探索阶段显得更加放松（P < 0.01）。在检查期间，狗在两种情况下都注视着它们的主人（主人在场和在门后，分别；P < 0.001）。这些结果表明，允许主人在兽医就诊时留在房间里对犬的福利更好。
