Assessing the welfare of shelter dogs by studying their sleep/rest patterns.
Year: 2017
Type: dissertation
Abstract: An animal shelter can be a stressful environment for dogs. Inclusion in a shelter can lead to welfare\nimpairment with short and long term effects. In order to monitor the level of well-being a change in\nsleep- or resting patterns could be used as an additional indicator.\nThis study examined sleep/rest quality and quantity and stress-related behaviour in a group of\nshelter dogs, in combination with urine cortisol: creatinine ratio (UCCR) and body weight.\nThe research group consisted of 32 dogs. In 5 dogs, changes in sleep/rest quality and quantity and in\nstress-related behaviour were examined using video images recorded the first night after intake in a\nshelter and again after 2 weeks. In the other 27 dogs only urine cortisol: creatinine ratio (UCCR) and\nbody weight were examined. After intake at the shelter, dogs went through more and shorter sleepwake\ncycles than laboratory dogs and dogs in domestic situations had done in a previous study. After\ntwo weeks in the shelter, dogs slept/rested more, had longer sleep/rest periods and showed fewer\nsleep disturbances than during the first 48 hours after admission to the shelter, although none of\nthese differences were statistically significant. After two weeks the UCCR had dropped significantly\n(p=0,001), as had the body weight (p<0,001). Stress behaviours occurred less frequently, but this\ndecrease in frequency was not significant.\nAlthough no significant differences were found (possibly due to the small sample size) in sleep/rest\npatterns and stress-related behaviour in dogs between the first night after inclusion in the shelter\nand 2 weeks after that, all parameters point in the same direction, namely that animals on entering a\nshelter experience much stress at first but seem to adapt to life in the new environment within a\ncouple of weeks. So, in conclusion, it looks as if monitoring sleep/rest patterns could be a possible\nindicator for animal welfare.
Author: L.M. Bril
Language: English
Subfield: Animal Science and Zoology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2766817689