Social factors influencing cortisol modulation in dogs during a strange situation procedure

Autor(en)

Gudrun Iris Schöberl, Andrea Beetz, Judith Solomon, Manuela Wedl, Nancy Gee, Kurt Kotrschal

Abstrakt

In human-dog relationships, positive interaction and social attention may mutually dampen stress responses. In humans, attachment representations and personality are linked to the modulation of individual stress reactions. We investigated the connections between dog attachment to the owner, owner attitudes and relationship toward the dog, and the personality of both on stress coping in dogs during the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure for dogs. For the first time, dog attachment patterns were assessed via the original Ainsworth attachment classification system. In addition, cortisol was measured from saliva in the context of play with the owner and 2 threat situations, once with and once without the owner present. We found that dogs classified as "securely attached" secreted less cortisol during the attachment (P = 0.008) and play situations (P = 0.031) and showed by trend a stronger cortisol reactivity during the threat situation when the owner was absent (P = 0.086) than dogs which were classified as "insecure." The higher the owner's self-reported insecure-ambivalent attachment toward the dog and perception of the dog as a social support, the higher was the dog's cortisol reactivity during the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure (P = 0.004 and P = 0.018). Furthermore, it was found that owners high in neuroticism and agreeableness had dogs with low cortisol reactivity (P = 0.003 and P = 0.001). Older dogs showed less cortisol reactivity than younger ones (P = 0.023). Male dogs of male owners tended to show the lowest cortisol reactivity compared to all other human gender-dog sex combinations (P = 0.008). In conclusion, results show that secure dog attachment to the owner, owner-dog relationship, and personality of both influence the dog's stress coping.

Organisation(en)

Core Facility KLF für Verhaltens- und Kognitionsbiologie

Externe Organisation(en)

Konrad-Lorenz-Forschungsstelle für Ethologie, Universität Rostock, WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition

Journal

Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research

Band

11

Seiten

77-85

Anzahl der Seiten

9

ISSN

1558-7878

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2015.09.007

Publikationsdatum

2016

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

106051 Verhaltensbiologie

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Allgemeine Veterinärmedizin

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/a2cd04ce-4fe0-4f11-b1c4-27b39ed7de8f