Stress in dogs can contribute to behavioural problems which may lead to rehoming or euthanasia of the dog. The aim of this study was to investigate how dog characteristics correlated to stress, whether it is possible to detect behavioural problems in order to treat the dogs. Twenty-two dogs were evaluated according to their behavioural problem by a veterinarian and a dog trainer. The dogs participated in a behavioural and physiological test, and the results were compared to characteristics gathered by a Canine Behavioural Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ), filled in by the dogs’ owners. The result showed that the total amount of stress related behaviour correlated positively to the C-BARQ score for attachment and attention-seeking behaviour and had a tendency of positive correlation to energy level and owner-directed aggression. Both the veterinarian behavioural problem score and trainer behavioural problem score had a tendency of positive correlation to stranger-directed fear. Dogs that, according to the C-BARQ, were found to be very attached and attention-seeking, showed high energy level or owner-directed aggression were likely to show stress related behaviours during the test in my study. By addressing the stress, the behavioural problems may be eased.

Master of Science / Department of Animal Sciences and Industry / Daniel W. Moser / Among working dogs, the role of a guide dog ranks as one of the most noble and useful occupations and thus was recognized early as a category of working dogs worthy of focused research. Behavior issues top the list of most common reasons for rejecting dogs from working as guides. The objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for each of the 101 questions and 12 subscale factors measured by the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ). The C-BARQ is a standardized questionnaire that contains seven behavioral categories: training and obedience, aggression, fear and anxiety, separation-related behavior, excitability, attachment and attention-seeking, and a miscellaneous category. These categories and questions allow the evaluator to describe any dog's behavior. For this study, questionnaire responses were obtained on 3,149 and 3,348 Labrador Retrievers (LR) from Guiding Eyes for the Blind (GEB) and 989 and 1,187 Labrador Retrievers, 608 and 692 Golden Retrievers (GR), and 966 and 1,348 German Shepherd Dogs (GSD) from The Seeing Eye, Inc. (TSE) at 6- and 12-months of age, respectively. The estimates of heritability and standard errors from TSE dogs indicate that there is much genetic variation that could be exploited in selection against "Familiar dog-directed aggression/fear" (0.27 ± 0.12) of GR at 6-months, "Chasing" (0.22 ± 0.10) of GR at 6-months, and "Nonsocial fear" (0.27 ± 0.09) of GR at 12-months or in selection for improved "Trainability" of LR (0.46 ± 0.07), GSD (0.47 ± 0.07), and GR (0.20 ± 0.08) at 12-months. In general, the remaining factors and most of the 101 questions were found to be lowly heritable (< 0.10). These estimates are useful to understand more about the nature of behavioral traits leading to the production of successful working guides.

As our long-term companions, dogs’ communication with us is perhaps the most developed of all human- animal ones. This study was aimed to investigate breed differences of German Shepherds and Labradors in dog-human communication. This was obtained through two tests: a problem-solving task and a pointing test. These two tests target both directions of communication: how much dogs understand and respond to the pointing and how they communicate with humans when facing a problem. Additionally, hair cortisol was measured in the dogs and dog owners filled a behavioural questionnaire (C-BARQ). The main breed difference I found was that Labradors performed better in both tests. I also found that the latency of the dogs’ choices in the pointing test correlated with many factors, e.g. they chose quicker when: choosing correctly, when they had many physical contacts with the experimenter in the problem-solving task, when they were more intense, energetic dogs, when they had higher hair cortisol levels and when they had a confident body posture. This indicates that the latency of choice could depend on the confidence of the dog and on the trust in the experimenter as well as on energy level and focus ability. Overall, this study revealed a limited amount of breed differences, compared to a parallel study on Labrador types (hunting and show dogs), showing that intra-breed differences can be more important than inter-breed ones on a behavioural level.

In 2005 Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) started a breeding program of military working dogs. The dogs leave SAF’s kennel at an age of 8 weeks and live with puppy raisers. To evaluate the suitability of dogs for military work the dogs conduct a behavioural test at an age of 15-18 months. An “Index value” is extracted from this behavioural test. The puppy raisers answered a modified version of Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ) when the dogs were approximately 12 months old. Answered questionnaires and results from the behavioural test were obtained for 59 dogs. Dogs that had passed the behavioural test had tendency for higher scores for “Trainability” (p = 0.078) and “If lived with other animals” (p = 0.066). Failing dogs had significantly higher score for “Stranger Directed Fear” (p = 0.006), ”Non-Social Fear” (p = 0.005), “Dog Directed Fear” (p = 0.021), “Hours of daily activation” (p = 0.001), “Mounting objects” (p = 0.012), and a tendency for higher risk of “Urinating when home alone” (p = 0.058). In a regressions between the “Index value” and the values of the questions from C-BARQ, the “Index value” was negatively correlated to “Stranger Directed Fear” (p = 0.002), “Non-social Fear” (p = 0.003), and “Dog Directed Fear” (p = 0.006). The “Index value” was positively correlated to “Trainability” (p = 0.013), “Hours left home alone” (p=0.043), “Hyperactive” (p = 0.018), “Chases shadows/light spots” (p = 0.043), and a positive tendency for “Chewing on inappropriate objects” (p = 0.075). From a PCA at the categories in C-BARQ, 3 components were extracted. All three components had a correlation to the “Index value”. The results show that the use of C-BARQ can indicate whether the dog will pass the behavioural test or not.

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Psicologia, Departamento de Psicologia Social e do Trabalho, Programa de Pós Graduação em Psicologia Social, do Trabalho e das Organizações, 2016. / Submitted by Fernanda Percia França (fernandafranca@bce.unb.br) on 2016-05-25T17:54:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_SofiaBethlem.pdf: 2219968 bytes, checksum: 0a111dcc435e6c85a93268350eee2f92 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marília Freitas(marilia@bce.unb.br) on 2016-05-26T18:18:04Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_SofiaBethlem.pdf: 2219968 bytes, checksum: 0a111dcc435e6c85a93268350eee2f92 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-26T18:18:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_SofiaBethlem.pdf: 2219968 bytes, checksum: 0a111dcc435e6c85a93268350eee2f92 (MD5) / O instrumento Canine Behavioral Assessment & Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ) já foi aplicado nos Estados Unidos (Hsu & Serpell, 2003), Japão (Nagasawa et al., 2011) e Irã (Tamimi et al., 2015) para avaliar comportamento canino. O presente estudo realizou uma adaptação desse instrumento para o Brasil. Foram obtidas 2.217 respostas sobre o comportamento de cães de todo o país. A análise fatorial extraiu 14 fatores que explicam 38,061% da variância encontrada. Tais fatores eram relacionados à agressividade (direcionada a pessoas desconhecidas; direcionada a cães desconhecidos; direcionada a outro cão da casa; por proteção); ao medo (direcionado a pessoas desconhecidas; direcionado a cães desconhecidos; relacionado a situações desagradáveis); à interação com o dono (comportamento relacionados à separação; apego e busca por atenção; treinabilidade); à movimentação (atividade e energia; agitação relacionada a algum evento); à natureza biológica (necessidades fisiológicas quando deixado sozinho; comportamento direcionado a animais não humanos e não caninos). Comparando esses fatores com os extraídos nos estudos realizados nos Estados Unidos, Japão ou Irã obtiveram-se três fatores diferentes, quatro equivalentes e sete fatores com nomenclatura semelhante. A nomenclatura desses fatores sofre influência da interpretação dos itens, que afeta a percepção humana sobre esses comportamentos e interfere na forma com que estes animais são tratados, resultando em consequências ao bem-estar animal; tornando-se necessário investigar objetivamente quais emoções caninas estão associadas a tais comportamentos. Ressalta-se também a necessidade de se investigar o comportamento dos cães sem raça definida, que representam 26,4% da amostra deste estudo, a fim de facilitar a adoção de animais abandonados. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT / Canine Behavioral Assessment & Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ) has already been applied on researches in United States (Hsu & Serpell, 2003), Japan (Nagasawa et al., 2011) and Iran (Tamimi, Jamshidi, Serpell, & Mousavi, 2015) to assess dog’s behaviour. This study aims at adapting this instrument to Brazilian reality. A total of 2217 answers have been collected from all the country. Factorial analysis extracted 14 factors related to canine behavior that explain 38,061% of variance. These factors were related to aggression (toward unknown people; toward unknown dogs, to other dogs in the house and for protection); fear (toward unknown people; toward unknown dogs; related to unpleasant events); the interaction with the owner (separation related behavior; attachment and attention seeking, trainability); mobility (activity & energy; excitement related to some event); and aspects of biological nature (physiological needs when left alone, behavior directed to non-dogs and non-humans animals). Comparing this factors with the ones used in the United States, Japan or Iran, three different factors, four equivalent factors and seven similar factors were found. As the names of the factors have influence over the interpretation of the items and this may affect the human perception of those behaviors, it is necessary to investigate objectively which emotions are associated to these behaviors, that interferes in the way these animals are treated, having consequences on their welfare. It’s important to study the behavior of dogs without breed, that represent 26.4 % of the sample of this study, to probably enhance abandoned dogs adoption.