Effects of Human-dog Interaction on Stereotyped Behavior and Cortisol Concentration in Dogs
The study aimed to investigate the impact of human-dog interaction on stereotypical behav-iors and cortisol levels in dogs housed in kennels to mitigate stress factors associated with limited space and poor conditions,thereby improving canine welfare.The human-dog interaction program involved trainers leading dogs to a 300 m2 outdoor grassy area for games using toys such as sticks and tennis balls,as well as petting,with each interaction lasting 60 minutes.Saliva samples were collected at 0,15,30,45,60,75,and 90 minutes during the interactions to measure salivary cortisol levels.The human-dog interaction trial lasted 20 days,with evaluations conducted before and after interactions to assess their impact on ste-reotypical behaviors in dogs.Fecal samples were collected to measure changes in fecal cortisol levels.Re-sults indicated that stereotypical behaviors in dogs included pacing,circling,walking in circles in the ken-nel,wall bouncing,and coprophagy.Following human-dog interactions,dogs'stereotypical behaviors sig-nificantly decreased(P＜0.01),from 32.7％±8.32％to 18.3％±2.27％.Among the three working dog breeds,the Malinois showed the greatest response to human-dog interaction.After 20 days of interaction,dogs'fecal cortisol levels significantly decreased,with pre-interaction levels(P＜0.01)at 457.0±17.80 pg/mg and post-interaction levels at 241.8±17.71 pg/mg.There was no correlation between stereotypical be-haviors and fecal cortisol levels in dogs.Salivary cortisol levels significantly and consistently decreased dur-ing interactions,from a baseline of 4.0±0.30 nmol/L to 2.4±0.28 nmol/L,returning close to baseline lev-els 30 minutes after interactions but remaining below baseline levels.The study suggests that regular 30-minute human-dog interactions can effectively reduce stereotypical behaviors and stress responses in dogs.
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