<p>Accurate assessments of behavior and welfare are needed to evaluate the state of domestic dogs maintained in commercial breeding (CB) and other types of kennels. Field assessments of dogs’ states of being must be reliable, valid and efficient. However, observer subjectivity and situational variation in dogs’ responses pose a challenge to incorporating behavioral metrics into welfare assessment tools. The published Field Instantaneous Dog Observation (FIDO) tool, designed to capture the immediately observable physical and behavioral status of dogs in kennels, was thus evaluated on its reliability and validity. Specifically, the main goals were to determine 1) reliability of the behavioral scoring when used by novice raters, 2) whether and to what extent dogs’ behavioral responses to stranger-approach changed during a 30-second observation period, and 3) the predictive power of the FIDO scoring on behavioral responses of dogs placed within a standardized arena with a stranger. Behavioral responses to stranger-approach were organized into three categories: red, indicating a fearful response to approach, green, indicating an affiliative or neutral response, and yellow, indicating an ambivalent response. In study one, behavior assessment was conducted by two novice raters with 50 dogs housed at two US shelters. A stranger approached the home pen of each dog in a non-threatening manner, stood quietly, extended a hand to the dog and scored the response while the test was video-recorded. Intra-rater reliability was assessed by comparing each rater’s live observation scores with their scores of the same dogs using video recordings. Inter-rater agreement between scores from video recordings was also calculated. In study two, 81 commercial breeding dogs maintained at four USDA-licensed CB facilities in the US were approached by one observer and scored once every five seconds for 30 seconds. Of the 81 subject dogs, 56 met the criteria for full sampling. In study three, 40 pairs of dogs were scored using the FIDO tool in their home pens at four USDA-licensed CB facilities and assessed on responses to an unfamiliar observer in a field test conducted in an outdoor arena. Behavioral measures from the field test such as latencies to approach the stranger and durations in different areas of the arena were captured from video recordings and subjected to a principal components analysis [PCA] for reduction of variables. A multivariate multiple regression analysis was thereafter used, with principal component scores obtained from the PCA as outcome variables, and FIDO scores as predictor variables, accounting for other factors such as breed and group composition. Results from study one indicated that raters showed almost perfect agreement between their own scores of live and video-recorded shelter dog responses (kappa = 0.83, 0.89) and between each other’s video-recorded scores (kappa = 0.87), indicating high intra- and inter-rater reliability. Results from study two indicated that over a 30-second time frame with five-second increments, 91% of the dogs showed no change in their behavioral response to approach. This suggests that the first five seconds of scoring provide a reliable time point for assessing behavior using the FIDO tool and indicates no benefit to extending the FIDO scoring period to gauge dogs’ immediate responses to stranger-approach. Results from study three showed that dogs scored as red, as determined by the FIDO scoring, also showed higher scores associated with avoidance, indicated by greater time spent away and more time taken to approach the unfamiliar person in the field test (p = 0.039). FIDO scoring was, however, not significantly predictive of other behavioral responses such as interaction with the unfamiliar person. How dogs were housed was also significantly associated with incidences of escape attempts from the arena; dogs paired as a mixed sex (i.e. male-female) showed lower scores on incidences of escape attempts than dogs paired as a same sex (i.e. female-female) (p = 0.003). Taken together, these results suggest that the FIDO tool can be used by individuals without much expertise in canine behavior, and also attest to the practicality of the tool via a reliable five-second approach. Further, results also indicate that the FIDO scoring can help to identify fearful dogs in need of greater socialization towards unfamiliar people. Future research would, however, be valuable in validating behavioral scores obtained using the tool against long-term indicators of overall welfare.</p>

From birth and throughout their lives, dogs experience a variety of potentially stressful stimuli. Early neurologic stimulation (ENS) is believed to improve the ability of animals to handle stress, however its effects on dogs have not yet been fully explored. This study aimed to evaluate the effects and potential welfare implications of providing ENS to puppies in commercial breeding kennels. Seventy-six puppies, comprising two cohorts in one kennel were studied. Puppies were assigned to one of three treatment groups: ENS, held, or control, and then were marked for identification, and handled daily Monday through Saturday for 21 days, beginning on day three post-partum. ENS puppies received five “Bio Sensor” exercises (Battaglia, 2009). Puppies in the held treatment group were held for 30 seconds, which was the same length of time that was required to apply the Bio Sensor exercises to ENS treated puppies. Control puppies received identification marks daily and health assessments weekly, but otherwise were handled as normal for the breeder’s management plan. To evaluate treatment effects on physical health, all puppies received physical health assessments weekly, and additionally before and after transport to a distributor. To evaluate effects of treatment on behavioral responses to stressors, puppies were assessed shortly before and after transport (a known stressor), using three stranger approach tests and a 3-minute isolation test. Puppies were found to be generally healthy and clean throughout the study. A three-way interaction was observed between treatment, sex, and week of life, which affected puppies’ weights over the first eight weeks of life at the breeder’s kennel prior to the application of stressors (<i>p</i> = 0.006). Female ENS puppies were found to weigh more than their held and control counterparts, while for male puppies, held and control puppies weighed more than ENS puppies. A two-way interaction was observed between treatment and isolation on behavior for a single step of the multi-step stranger approach test performed at the breeder’s kennel (<i>p</i> = 0.025). While more puppies showed affiliative behavioral responses to the experimenter reaching for them after isolation than before, the change was greater in ENS and held treatment groups than controls. Treatment also directly affected the time puppies spent performing fearful behavior during the isolation test (<i>p</i> = 0.041). Handled puppies spent more time performing fearful behaviors than control puppies. No other significant effects of treatment were observed for the behavioral or physical health parameters measured. However, the finding that ENS and held-groups tended to show greater increases in the number of puppies displaying affiliative behavior than controls (though it was only significant for one step) suggests that handling treatments primed puppies to view people as a form of social support during stress. The additional finding that ENS and held group puppies spent more time performing fearful behaviors (e.g., escape attempts, low postures) during isolation than control puppies, further supports this theory. While these results do not support the purported effects of ENS, they indicate that early handling may still benefit puppies by providing them positive interactions with humans. These interactions potentially prime developing puppies to view humans as safe sources of social support, perhaps increasing their likelihood of forming secure attachments with people later in life. Further, findings from this study suggest that simply holding puppies daily for short periods may be sufficient to produce beneficial effects. Future studies should incorporate measures of recovery in response to stress testing puppies receiving ENS treatment and should consider evaluating ENS in conjunction with attachment theory to provide more information on the potential welfare effects of early handling of puppies in commercial breeding and other kennel types.