Sangam: A Confluence of Knowledge Streams

Investigating the Impact of Brief Outings on the Welfare of Dogs Living in US Shelters

Show simple item record

dc.contributor Animal and Poultry Sciences
dc.creator Gunter, Lisa M.
dc.creator Gilchrist, Rachel J.
dc.creator Blade, Emily M.
dc.creator Barber, Rebecca T.
dc.creator Feuerbacher, Erica N.
dc.creator Platzer, JoAnna M.
dc.creator Wynne, Clive D. L.
dc.date 2021-02-26T19:57:56Z
dc.date 2021-02-26T19:57:56Z
dc.date 2021-02-19
dc.date 2021-02-26T14:44:39Z
dc.date.accessioned 2023-03-01T18:51:57Z
dc.date.available 2023-03-01T18:51:57Z
dc.identifier Gunter, L.M.; Gilchrist, R.J.; Blade, E.M.; Barber, R.T.; Feuerbacher, E.N.; Platzer, J.M.; Wynne, C.D.L. Investigating the Impact of Brief Outings on the Welfare of Dogs Living in US Shelters. Animals 2021, 11, 548.
dc.identifier http://hdl.handle.net/10919/102458
dc.identifier https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11020548
dc.identifier.uri http://localhost:8080/xmlui/handle/CUHPOERS/281568
dc.description Social isolation likely contributes to reduced welfare for shelter-living dogs. Several studies have established that time out of the kennel with a person can improve dogs’ behavior and reduce physiological measures of stress. This study assessed the effects of two-and-a-half-hour outings on the urinary cortisol levels and activity of dogs as they awaited adoption at four animal shelters. Dogs’ urine was collected before and after outings for cortisol:creatinine analysis, and accelerometer devices were used to measure dogs’ physical activity. In total, 164 dogs participated in this study, with 793 cortisol values and 3750 activity measures used in the statistical analyses. We found that dogs’ cortisol:creatinine ratios were significantly higher during the afternoon of the intervention but returned to pre-field trip levels the following day. Dogs’ minutes of low activity were significantly reduced, and high activity significantly increased during the outing. Although dogs’ cortisol and activity returned to baseline after the intervention, our findings suggest that short-term outings do not confer the same stress reduction benefits as previously shown with temporary fostering. Nevertheless, it is possible that these types of outing programs are beneficial to adoptions by increasing the visibility of dogs and should be further investigated to elucidate these effects.
dc.description Published version
dc.format application/pdf
dc.format application/pdf
dc.language en
dc.publisher MDPI
dc.rights Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
dc.rights http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject dogs
dc.subject animal shelter
dc.subject cortisol
dc.subject stress
dc.subject welfare
dc.subject human-animal interaction
dc.subject activity
dc.title Investigating the Impact of Brief Outings on the Welfare of Dogs Living in US Shelters
dc.title Animals
dc.type Article - Refereed
dc.type Text
dc.type StillImage


Files in this item

Files Size Format View
animals-11-00548-v2.pdf 851.7Kb application/pdf View/Open

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record

Search DSpace


Advanced Search

Browse